title: Electrospun silk fibroin-gelatin composite tubular matrices as scaffolds for small diameter blood vessel regeneration.
abstract: In this work an innovative method to obtain natural and biocompatible small diameter tubular structures is proposed. The biocompatibility and good mechanical properties of electrospun silk fibroin tubular matrices (SFts), extensively studied for tissue engineering applications, have been coupled with the excellent cell interaction properties of gelatin. In fact, an innovative non-cytotoxic gelatin gel, crosslinked in mild conditions via a Michael-type addition reaction, has been used to coat SFt matrices and obtain SFt/gel structures (I.D. = 6 mm). SFts/gel exhibited homogeneous gelatin coating on the electrospun fibrous tubular structure. Circumferential tensile tests performed on SFts/gel showed mechanical properties comparable to those of natural blood vessels in terms of UTS, compliance and viscoelastic behavior. Finally, SFt/gel in vitro cytocompatibility was confirmed by the good viability and spread morphology of L929 fibroblasts up to 7 days. These results demonstrated that SFt/gel is a promising off-the-shelf graft for small diameter blood vessel regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci 32, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marcolin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci 32, Milano, Italy.|Local Unit Politecnico di Milano, INSTM, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Draghi
authors.affiliation: Local Unit Politecnico di Milano, INSTM, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: MariaCristina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "G. Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. Da Vinci 32, Milano, Italy. silvia.fare@polimi.it.|Local Unit Politecnico di Milano, INSTM, Milano, Italy. silvia.fare@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faré
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D004548:Elasticity; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry*; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D012038:Regeneration; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005780:Gelatin; D005349:Fibroins