title: Elastin-coated biodegradable photopolymer scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.
abstract: One of the main open issues in modern vascular surgery is the nonbiodegradability of implants used for stent interventions, which can lead to small caliber-related thrombosis and neointimal hyperplasia. Some new, resorbable polymeric materials have been proposed to substitute traditional stainless-steel stents, but so far they were affected by poor mechanical properties and low biocompatibility. In this respect, a new material, polypropylene fumarate (PPF), may be considered as a promising candidate to implement the development of next generation stents, due to its complete biodegradability, and excellent mechanical properties and the ease to be precisely patterned. Besides all these benefits, PPF has not been tested yet for vascular prosthesis, mainly because it proved to be almost inert, while the ability to elicit a specific biological function would be of paramount importance in such critical surgery applications. Here, we propose a biomimetic functionalization process, aimed at obtaining specific bioactivation and thus improved cell-polymer interaction. Porous PPF-based scaffolds produced by deep-UV photocuring were coated by elastin and the functionalized scaffolds were extensively characterized, revealing a stable bound between the protein and the polymer surface. Both 3T3 and HUVEC cell lines were used for in vitro tests displaying an enhancement of cells adhesion and proliferation on the functionalized scaffolds.
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Italy (CNR), IEIIT Institute, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Rossella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barenghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beke
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1555-0633
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Italy (CNR), IBF Institute, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gavazzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Italy (CNR), IBF Institute, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3063-4376
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vassalli
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy ; National Research Council of Italy (CNR), INO Institute, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2717-3748
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brandi
authors.affiliation: National Research Council of Italy (CNR), IEIIT Institute, Via De Marini 6, 16149 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scaglione
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D063566:Biodegradable Plastics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D004549:Elastin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D015607:Stents; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D063566:Biodegradable Plastics; D011126:Polypropylenes; D004549:Elastin