Functionalized core/shell nanofibers for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells for vascular tissue engineering

• Main Authors: Ezhilarasu, H., Sadiq, A., Ratheesh, G., Sridhar, S., Ramakrishna, Seeram, Mohd Hasbi, Ab. Rahim, M. M., Yusoff, Rajan, Jose, Venugopal, Jayarama Reddy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Future Medicine Ltd. 2019
• Subjects: QD Chemistry; R Medicine (General); RM Therapeutics. Pharmacology
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24997/1/Functionalized%20core_shell%20nanofibers%20for%20the.pdf; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/24997/; https://doi.org/10.2217/nnm-2018-0271; https://doi.org/10.2217/nnm-2018-0271
• Institution: Universiti Malaysia Pahang

Aim: Atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular disease causing medical problems globally leading to coronary artery bypass surgery. The present study is to fabricate core/shell nanofibers to encapsulate VEGF for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into smooth muscle cells to develop vascular grafts. Materials & methods: The fabricated core/shell nanofibers contained polycaprolactone/gelatin as the shell, and silk fibroin/VEGF as the core materials. Results: The results observed that the core/shell nanofibers interact to differentiate MSCs into smooth muscle cells by the expression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractile proteins α-actinin, myosin and F-actin. Conclusion: The functionalized polycaprolactone/gelatin/silk fibroin/VEGF (250 ng) core/shell nanofibers were fabricated for the controlled release of VEGF in a persistent manner for the differentiation of MSCs into smooth muscle cells for vascular tissue engineering.