Endothelialization and Anticoagulation Potential of Surface-Modified PET Intended for Vascular Applications.

In vascular tissue engineering, great attention is paid to the immobilization of biomolecules onto synthetic grafts to increase bio- and hemocompatibility-two critical milestones in the field. The surface modification field of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), a well-known vascular-graft material, is matured and oversaturated. Nevertheless, most developed methods are laborious multistep procedures generally accompanied by coating instability or toxicity issues. Herein, a straightforward surface modification procedure is presented engineered to simultaneously promote surface endothelialization and anticoagulation properties via the covalent immobilization of gelatin through a photoactivate…

An impaired alveolar-capillary barrier in vitro : effect of proinflammatory cytokines and consequences on nanocarrier interaction.

The alveolar region of the lung is an important target for drug and gene delivery approaches. Treatment with drugs is often necessary under pathophysiological conditions, in which there is acute inflammation of the target organ. Therefore, in vitro models of the alveolar-capillary barrier, which mimic inflammatory conditions in the alveolar region, would be useful to analyse and predict effects of novel drugs on healthy or inflamed tissues. The epithelial cell line H441 was cultivated with primary isolated human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) or the endothelial cell line ISO-HAS-1 on opposite sides of a permeable filter support under physiological and inflammatory condi…

Porous Gelatin Hydrogels:  2. In Vitro Cell Interaction Study

We report on the feasibility of applying porous gelatin hydrogels, prepared by a novel and controlled cryogenic treatment, as cell-interactive scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Despite the large number of publications on gelatin as a biomaterial, a detailed study of screening a limited number of gelatin scaffolds for their interaction with a panel of human cells has, to the best of our knowledge, not yet been published. In the present work, we have evaluated two types of porous gelatin scaffolds that differ in their pore geometry and pore size. Type I hydrogels contained top-to-bottom transverse channels (i.e. cones) with a decreasing diameter from the top (330 microm) to the b…

Porous gelatin cryogels as cell delivery tool in tissue engineering.

Biomimetic strategy towards gelatin coatings on PET. Effect of protocol on coating stability and cell-interactive properties

Gelatin-modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) surfaces have been previously realized via an intermediate dopamine coating procedure that resulted in surfaces with superior haemocompatibility compared to unfunctionalized PET. The present study addresses the biocompatibility assessment of these coated PET surfaces. In this context, the stability of the gelatin coating upon exposure to physiological conditions and its cell-interactive properties were investigated. The proposed gelatin–dopamine-PET surfaces showed an increased protein coating stability up to 24 days and promoted the attachment and spreading of both endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). In parallel, physi…