Assessment of Physical, Mechanical and Biological Properties of Thai Silk Fibroin Vascular Scaffold

Biomimetic microstructural reorganization during suture retention strength evaluation of electrospun vascular scaffolds

Suture retention strength (SRS) is commonly used as a measure the ability of sutures to adhere implants to surrounding tissue. While SRS is widely employed, surprisingly its effects on graft microstructure have not been characterized. This is particularly germane to the broad utilization of electrospun implants in tissue engineering. These implants need to retain their initial nanoscale topography while simultaneously preserving clinically critical mechanical properties. We examined the suture-driven microstructural deformation of polycaprolactone electrospun to form both square and tubular SRS samples. The impact of fiber orientation (generally parallel or random orientation, orthogonally aligned) on the SRS of these vascular tissue equivalents was analyzed and compared to native and decellularized porcine vasculature. The initial state of the fiber clearly dictates the overall efficiency of scaffold utilization. SRS values for as-spun fibers at a thickness of 300 μm were found to be in the range of 1.59-4.78 N for the three orientations. Unexpectedly, random fibers provided the optimal SRS values based on both resistance to suture motion and the percentage of scaffold involvement. A "V-shaped" failure morphology is observed for both electrospun scaffolds and native tissue during SRS testing. Post-test fiber alignment in the tensile direction was visible in all initial fiber orientations similar to that of native tissue. These findings are significant as they allow us to employ new, counterintuitive biomimetic design criteria for nanofiber-based scaffolds in which reliable mechanical integration with the surrounding tissues via suture-based methods is important. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 104B: 1525-1534, 2016.

Silk-based biomaterials in biomedical textiles and fiber-based implants

Biomedical textiles and fiber-based implants (BTFIs) have been in routine clinical use to facilitate healing for nearly five decades. Amongst the variety of biomaterials used, silk-based biomaterials (SBBs) have been widely used clinically viz. sutures for centuries and are being increasingly recognized as a prospective material for biomedical textiles. The ease of processing, controllable degradability, remarkable mechanical properties and biocompatibility have prompted the use of SBBs for various BTFIs for extracorporeal implants, soft tissue repair, healthcare/hygiene products and related needs. The present Review focuses on BTFIs from the perspective of types and physical and biological properties, and this discussion is followed with an examination of the advantages and limitations of BTFIs from SBBs. The Review covers progress in surface coatings, physical and chemical modifications of SBBs for BTFIs and identifies future needs and opportunities for the further development for BTFIs using SBBs.

A vascular patch prepared from Thai silk fibroin and gelatin hydrogel incorporating simvastatin-micelles to recruit endothelial progenitor cells

Delayed re-endothelialization is one of the major disadvantages in synthetic vascular grafts, especially in small-diameter grafts (inner diameter <6 mm), leading to thrombosis and stenosis of the grafts. Simvastatin, a serum cholesterol-lowering drug, has promotional effects on endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) mobilization from bone marrow and recruitment to sites of vascular injury exhibiting acceleration of re-endothelialization. In this study, we prepared double-layer vascular patches from Thai silk fibroin/gelatin with gelatin hydrogel incorporating simvastatin-micelles (SM) for sustained release of simvastatin to recruit circulation EPCs. To enhance simvastatin solubility, simvastatin was entrapped in micelles of l-lactic acid oligomer-grafted gelatin. The drug loading efficiency was at 4.1 ± 0.5 μg/mg micelles. SM had a chemoattractive effect on EPCs comparable to nonmodified simvastatin. Gelatin hydrogel incorporating SM at 100 μM of simvastatin (GSM100) could enhance in vitro EPC activities of adhesion and proliferation. In vitro results showed the initial cell adhesion of 86%, specific growth rate of 15.33×10(-3) h(-1), and population doubling time of 46.21 h. In vivo implantation of the patches incorporating SM significantly increased the recruitment of circulating EPCs. From the results of immunofluorescence staining, they demonstrated the complete re-endothelialization on the implanted patches containing SM at 2 weeks after implantation in rat carotid arteries. The gelatin hydrogel incorporating SM could be an effective inner layer of multifunctional vascular grafts to accelerate re-endothelialization in vascular tissue engineering.