Fabrication of highly interconnected porous silk fibroin scaffolds for potential use as vascular grafts.
Silk fibroin (SF) scaffolds have been designed and fabricated for multiple organ engineering owing to SF's remarkable mechanical property, excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, as well as its low immunogenicity. In this study, an easy-to-adopt and mild approach based on a modified freeze-drying method was developed to fabricate a highly interconnected porous SF scaffold. The physical properties of the SF scaffold, including pore morphology, pore size, porosity and compressive modulus, could be adjusted by the amount of ethanol added, the freezing temperature and the concentration of SF. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy illustrated that treatment of the lyophilized scaffolds with 90% methanol led to a structure transition of SF from silk I (random coil) to silk II (beta-sheet), which stabilized the SF scaffolds in water. We also incorporated heparin during fabrication to obtain a heparin-loaded scaffold which possessed excellent anticoagulant property. The heparin that was incorporated into the SF scaffolds could be released in a sustain manner for approximately 7days, inhibiting the proliferation of human smooth muscle cells within the scaffold in vitro while promoting neovascularization in vivo. We therefore propose that the SF porous scaffold fabricated here may be an attractive candidate for use as a potential vascular graft for implantation based on its high porosity, excellent blood compatibility and mild fabrication process.
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Meifeng
M
Zhu
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Kai
K
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Jingjing
J
Mei
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomaterial Research, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Tianjin 300192, China.
Chen
C
Li
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Jiamin
J
Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Wenting
W
Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Di
D
An
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Nannan
N
Xiao
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Qiang
Q
Zhao
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Biomaterial Research, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Tianjin 300192, China. Electronic address: kongdeling@nankai.edu.cn.
Deling
D
Kong
State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering (Tianjin), College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China. Electronic address: wly@nankai.edu.cn.
Lianyong
L
Wang
D000438:Alcohols / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D012831:Bombyx; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D005349:Fibroins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005615:Freezing; D006493:Heparin / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D016062:Porosity; D011517:Prothrombin Time; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D000438:Alcohols; D006493:Heparin; D005349:Fibroins
Freeze-drying; Heparin; Neovascularization; Silk fibroin scaffolds; Vascular graft