| Abstract Scope |
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause for human deaths, and acute atherosclerosis can result in stroke, coronary heart disease, etc. Surgical treatments of these diseases have greatly raised the demand for vascular grafts. But autologous grafts have limitations, and hence synthetic grafts are in high demand. In this study, bilayer vascular grafts with good anticoagulation and endothelialization behaviors were made via electrospinning. Longitudinally aligned gelatin fibers were electrospun to form the inner layer and circumferentially aligned shape memory poly(D,L-lactide-co-trimethylene carbonate) fibers were electrospun to form the outer layer of synthetic grafts, corresponding to the alignment directions of endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells, respectively. The gelatin layer was crosslinked by EDC/NHS with immobilization of heparin for anticoagulation and endothelialization. The bilayer grafts were stretchable and possessed mechanical properties close to those of blood vessels. They could also self-fold into tubes at 37℃. They exhibited anticoagulation behavior and good cytocompatibility. |