Engineering of poly(caprolactone) and poly(glycerol sebacate) small‐diameter vascular prosthesis with quercetin

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A Vol. 111; no. 10; pp. 1500 - 1512
• Main Authors: Ferrari, Pier Francesco, Aliakbarian, Bahar, Barisione, Chiara, Kahn, Cyril J. F., Arab‐Tehrany, Elmira, Palombo, Domenico, Perego, Patrizia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.10.2023; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: antioxidants; bioactive scaffolds; Biocompatibility; Biodegradation; Bioengineering; Biological activity; Biological properties; Biomaterials; Biotechnology; Cellular Biology; Electrospinning; Endothelial cells; Fabrication; Feasibility studies; Fourier transforms; Glycerol; Inflammation; Infrared spectroscopy; Life Sciences; Mass spectroscopy; Matrix metalloproteinase; Matrix metalloproteinases; Mechanical properties; Metalloproteinase; Nitric oxide; Nitric-oxide synthase; Physicochemical properties; Polycaprolactone; polymeric biomaterials; Polymers; Prostheses; Prosthetics; Quercetin; Scaffolds; Surgical implants; Tissue engineering; vascular tissue engineering; bioactive scaffolds; vascular tissue engineering; polymeric biomaterials; antioxidants; electrospinning; nanoliposome; polymer scaffolds; tissue engineering; vascular prosthesis; quercitine
• ISSN: 1549-3296; 1552-4965
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.37535

The fabrication of biodegradable, bioabsorbable, and biocompatible vascular scaffolds with enhanced mechanical and biological properties that are able to modulate local inflammation and induce endothelialization after surgical implant is still a challenge. In this work, a fibrous scaffold, made of poly(ε‐caprolactone) and poly(glycerol sebacate), was fabricated to be potentially used as a small‐diameter graft in vascular surgery. The novelty of this research is represented by the direct incorporation of quercetin, a well‐known antioxidant compound with several biological properties, into a polymeric scaffold obtaining a vascular construct able to modulate two key factors involved in postsurgical inflammation, matrix metalloproteinase‐9 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase. For its production, an electrospinning apparatus, a solution made of the two polymers (both 20% (w/v), mixed at the ratio 1:1 (v/v)), and free quercetin (0.05% (w/v)) were used. Scanning electron and atomic force microscopies were employed to investigate the morphological properties of the fabricated electrospun scaffolds. Furthermore, physicochemical properties, including Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, mass loss, fluid uptake, quercetin release, mechanical properties, and biological activity of the scaffolds were studied. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and of endothelial nitric oxide synthase was evaluated when the quercetin‐functionalized scaffold was exposed to  human endothelial cells treated with tumor necrosis factor‐α. The results of this study confirmed the feasibility of incorporating free quercetin during the electrospinning process to impart biological properties to small‐diameter vascular prostheses.