Biomimicking polysaccharide nanofibers promote vascular phenotypes : a potential application for vascular tissue engineering

The potential of electrospun pullulan/dextran (P/D) nanofibers (average diameter = 323 nm) for vascular tissue engineering applications is explored. The mechanical properties of the nanofibers are of the same order of magnitude as that of human arteries (Young's modulus ≈0.88 MPa; tensile stren...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shi, Liya, Aid, Rachida, Visage, Catherine Le, Chew, Sing Yian
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/98408
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/17323
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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Summary:The potential of electrospun pullulan/dextran (P/D) nanofibers (average diameter = 323 nm) for vascular tissue engineering applications is explored. The mechanical properties of the nanofibers are of the same order of magnitude as that of human arteries (Young's modulus ≈0.88 MPa; tensile strength ≈0.35 MPa). It is demonstrated that the nanofiber topography enables cell adhesion and that the endothelial phenotype is maintained on the nanofibers. Moreover, P/D nanofibers support a stable confluent monolayer of endothelial cells over 14 d. SMCs seeded on nanofibers display similar levels of alpha smooth muscle actin and a lower proliferation rate than cells on 2D cultures. The observations suggest that nanofibers promote a shift to a quiescent contractile phenotype in SMCs.