A multiphase transitioning peptide hydrogel for suturing ultrasmall vessels

• Published in: Nature nanotechnology Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 95 - 102
• Main Authors: Smith, Daniel J., Brat, Gabriel A., Medina, Scott H., Tong, Dedi, Huang, Yong, Grahammer, Johanna, Furtmüller, Georg J., Oh, Byoung Chol, Nagy-Smith, Katelyn J., Walczak, Piotr, Brandacher, Gerald, Schneider, Joel P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.01.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 140/131; 140/58; 147/143; 147/3; 631/61/350/2093; 639/301/357/341; 639/925/350; 639/925/352/1061; Animals; Approximation; Blood vessels; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Femoral Artery - drug effects; Femoral Artery - surgery; Gel-Sol; Hydrogels; Hydrogels - administration & dosage; Hydrogels - chemistry; Hydrogels - radiation effects; Light; Lumens; Materials Science; Materials Testing; Mice; Microsurgery - instrumentation; Microsurgery - methods; Multiphase; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Peptides; Peptides - administration & dosage; Peptides - chemistry; Peptides - radiation effects; Phase Transition - radiation effects; Suture Techniques; Sutures; Syringes; Tissue Adhesives - chemical synthesis; Vascular Surgical Procedures - instrumentation; Vascular Surgical Procedures - methods; Viscosity
• ISSN: 1748-3387; 1748-3395
• DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2015.238

Many surgeries are complicated by the need to anastomose, or reconnect, micrometre-scale vessels. Although suturing remains the gold standard for anastomosing vessels, it is difficult to place sutures correctly through collapsed lumen, making the procedure prone to failure. Here, we report a multiphase transitioning peptide hydrogel that can be injected into the lumen of vessels to facilitate suturing. The peptide, which contains a photocaged glutamic acid, forms a solid-like gel in a syringe and can be shear-thin delivered to the lumen of collapsed vessels (where it distends the vessel) and the space between two vessels (where it is used to approximate the vessel ends). Suturing is performed directly through the gel. Light is used to initiate the final gel–sol phase transition that disrupts the hydrogel network, allowing the gel to be removed and blood flow to resume. This gel adds a new tool to the armamentarium for micro- and supermicrosurgical procedures. Suturing of ultrasmall blood vessels is now simplified through the use of a hydrogel that can act as a temporary stent on injection and can be removed through light irradiation.