title: An anisotropically and heterogeneously aligned patterned electrospun scaffold with tailored mechanical property and improved bioactivity for vascular tissue engineering.
abstract: The development of vascular scaffolds with controlled mechanical properties and stimulatory effects on biological activities of endothelial cells still remains a significant challenge to vascular tissue engineering. In this work, we reported an innovative approach to prepare a new type of vascular scaffolds with anisotropically and heterogeneously aligned patterns using electrospinning technique with unique wire spring templates, and further investigated the structural effects of the patterned electrospun scaffolds on mechanical properties and angiogenic differentiation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Results showed that anisotropically aligned patterned nanofibrous structure was obtained by depositing nanofibers on template in a structurally different manner, one part of nanofibers densely deposited on the embossments of wire spring and formed cylindrical-like structures in the transverse direction, while others loosely suspended and aligned along the longitudinal direction, forming a three-dimensional porous microstructure. We further found that such structures could efficiently control the mechanical properties of electrospun vascular scaffolds in both longitudinal and transverse directions by altering the interval distances between the embossments of patterned scaffolds. When HUVECs were cultured on scaffolds with different microstructures, the patterned scaffolds distinctively promoted adhesion of HUVECs at early stage and proliferation during the culture period. Most importantly, cells experienced a large shape change associated with cell cytoskeleton and nuclei remodeling, leading to a stimulatory effect on angiogenesis differentiation of HUVECs by the patterned microstructures of electrospun scaffolds, and the scaffolds with larger distances of intervals showed a higher stimulatory effect. These results suggest that electrospun scaffolds with the anisotropically and heterogeneously aligned patterns, which could efficiently control the mechanical properties and bioactivities of the scaffolds, might have great potential in vascular tissue engineering application.
authors.affiliation: †School of Biomedical Engineering and Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No.1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.|‡College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, No.100 Guilin Road, Shanghai 200234, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: †School of Biomedical Engineering and Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No.1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: ‡College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, No.100 Guilin Road, Shanghai 200234, China.
authors.forename: Qinfei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: †School of Biomedical Engineering and Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, No.1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.|§State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D053144:Cell Nucleus Shape / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000187:drug effects; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D061307:Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry; D017155:Wettability
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D014867:Water
keywords: bioactivity; electrospinning; mechanical property; pattern; vascular tissue engineering