The synergistic effect of aligned nanofibers and hyaluronic acid modification on endothelial cell behavior for vascular tissue engineering

The endothelialization of tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) is considered to be an effective strategy to prevent the coagulation and restenosis of small-diameter vascular grafts. In this study, we fabricated well aligned nanofibrous scaffolds with PCL using a high speed rotating collector, modified those surfaces with hyaluronic acid (HA) and studied the synergistic effect of the scaffolds on the endothelial cells behavior in vitro. The well-aligned oriented architecture was observed by SEM images in the nanofibrous scaffolds. The contact angle measurements and FTIR-ATR evidenced that HA was successfully modified on the PCL nanofibrous scaffolds and hydrophilicity of the scaffolds was increased after HA coating. The results of adhesion and morphology of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) showed that the HA-coating aligned PCL (HA-aPCL) nanofibrous scaffolds could highly promote attachment and guide HUVECs bipolar spread with the parallel aligned nanofibers. Furthermore, HUVECs on the HA-aPCL formed a confluent monoendothelial cell layer and exhibited superior protein expression levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF). This study suggested that the combination of aligned nanostructure and HA modification was more capable of promoting the regeneration of functional endothelium for vascular tissue engineering than individual use.     

Bio-functionalized PCL nanofibrous scaffolds for nerve tissue engineering

Surface properties of scaffolds such as hydrophilicity and the presence of functional groups on the surface of scaffolds play a key role in cell adhesion, proliferation and migration. Different modification methods for hydrophilicity improvement and introduction of functional groups on the surface of scaffolds have been carried out on synthetic biodegradable polymers, for tissue engineering applications. In this study, alkaline hydrolysis of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibrous scaffolds was carried out for different time periods (1 h, 4 h and 12 h) to increase the hydrophilicity of the scaffolds. The formation of reactive groups resulting from alkaline hydrolysis provides opportunities for further surface functionalization of PCL nanofibrous scaffolds. Matrigel was attached covalently on the surface of an optimized 4 h hydrolyzed PCL nanofibrous scaffolds and additionally the fabrication of blended PCL/matrigel nanofibrous scaffolds was carried out. Chemical and mechanical characterization of nanofibrous scaffolds were evaluated using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and tensile measurement. In vitro cell adhesion and proliferation study was carried out after seeding nerve precursor cells (NPCs) on different scaffolds. Results of cell proliferation assay and SEM studies showed that the covalently functionalized PCL/matrigel nanofibrous scaffolds promote the proliferation and neurite outgrowth of NPCs compared to PCL and hydrolyzed PCL nanofibrous scaffolds, providing suitable substrates for nerve tissue engineering.     

Nanofibrous membrane of collagen–polycaprolactone for cell growth and tissue regeneration

Nanofibrous substrates of synthetic polymers including polycaprolactone (PCL) have shown considerable potential in tissue regeneration. This paper reports the use of PCL/collagen nanofibers to improve the in vitro osteoblastic responses for the applications in bone regeneration area. Collagen and PCL were dissolved in a co-solvent, and the resulting solution was electrospun into a nanofibrous web. Nonwoven fibrous matrices were successfully produced at various compositional ratios (PCL/collagen = 1/3, 1 and 3 by weight). Although the PCL nanofiber was hydrophobic, the presence of collagen significantly improved the water affinity, such as the water contact angle and water uptake capacity. Tensile mechanical tests showed that the collagen–PCL nanofiber had a significantly higher extension rate (approximately 2.8-fold) than the PCL while maintaining the maximum tensile load in a similar range. The osteoblastic cells cultured on the collagen–PCL nanofibrous substrate showed better initial adhesion and a higher level of growth than those cultured on the PCL nanofiber. Furthermore, real-time RT-PCR revealed the expression of a series of bone-associated genes, including osteopontin, collagen type I and alkaline phosphatase. The expression of these genes was significantly higher on the collagen–PCL nanofiber than on the PCL nanofiber. When subcutaneously implanted in mouse the collagen–PCL membrane facilitated tissue cells to well penetrate into the nanofibrous structure at day 7, whilst no such cell penetration was noticed in the pure PCL nanofiber. Overall, the presence of collagen within the PCL nanofiber improves the water affinity, tensile extension rate, and the tissue cell responses, such as initial adhesion, growth, penetration and the expression of bone-associated genes. Therefore, the collagen–PCL nanofibrous membrane may have potential applications in the cell growth and bone tissue regeneration.     

基于贻贝仿生化学改善聚己内酯纤维多孔支架的 细胞相容性

在组织工程领域,支架的表面化学性能对调控细胞的生长行为起着关键的作用。为进一步改善聚己内酯(PCL)纤维支架的细胞相容性,开发了一种基于贻贝仿生化学在PCL纤维支架表面接枝生物相容性大分子的方法。该方法主要包含多巴胺在PCL纤维的表面涂覆和自聚合,以及生物活性大分子精氨酸-甘氨酸-天冬氨酸(RGD)和肝素的引入。傅里叶变换红外光谱测试结果表明RGD和PDA被成功地引入到PCL纤维支架表面。扫描电镜形貌检测和水接触角测试结果表明该改性手段不仅增大了纤维支架的表面粗糙度并且改善了支架的表面润湿性能。血管内皮细胞在改性的支架表面表现出了良好的细胞黏附性和细胞存活性。这种不涉及任何有毒溶剂的改性方法在组织工程支架领域具有广阔的应用前景。     

Fabrication of a super-hydrophobic nanofibrous zinc oxide film surface by electrospinning

We report a new approach for fabricating a super-hydrophobic nanofibrous zinc oxide (ZnO) film surface. The pure poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and composite PVA/ZnO nanofibrous films can be obtained by electrospinning the PVA and PVA/zinc acetate solutions, respectively. After the calcination of composite fibrous films, the inorganic fibrous ZnO films with a reduced fiber diameter were fabricated. The wettability of three kinds of fibrous film surfaces were modified with a simple coating of fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) in hexane. The resultant samples were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), water contact angle (WCA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was found that the pure PVA fibrous films maintained the super-hydrophilic surface property even after the FAS modification. Additionally, the WCA of composite fibrous films was increased from 105 to 132° with the coating of FAS. Furthermore, the surface property of inorganic ZnO fibrous films was converted from super-hydrophilic (WCA of 0°) to super-hydrophobic (WCA of 165°) after the surface modification with FAS. Observed from XPS data, the hydrophobicity of FAS coated various film surfaces were found to be strongly affected by the ratio of fluoro:oxygen on the film surfaces.     

水热反应温度对PMMA/TiO_2复合纳米纤维膜的形貌和性能的影响

利用静电纺丝技术成功制备了聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯/钛酸四正丁酯(PMMA/TBT)复合纳米纤维膜,通过水热法处理得到了PMMA/TiO_2柔性复合纳米纤维膜。通过傅立叶红外光谱(FTIR)、热失重分析法(TGA)、X射线衍射法(XRD)等手段对PMMA/TiO_2复合纳米纤维膜进行了表征,借助扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、全自动比表面积及孔隙分析仪(BET)对该材料的形貌结构、孔隙结构进行分析,最后探讨了所制备的纳米纤维膜的光催化降解能力,综合分析了反应温度对水热法制备PMMA/TiO_2复合纳米纤维膜的形貌、结构及性能的影响。结果表明:水热反应温度为200℃时,得到的PMMA/TiO_2复合纳米纤维膜中TiO_2晶型为纯锐钛矿型,且晶体生长速率较快,比表面积较大,对污染物亚甲基蓝的脱色效率最高,可达98.93%。     

Preliminary study of a polycaprolactone membrane utilized as epidermal substrate

Solvent-cast sheets of polycaprolactone were biaxially stretched to produce 10–15 m thick films. PCL films were found to have a tensile strength of 55 MPa which is about two and a half times stronger than native skin. One of our previous studies using non-coated PCL membranes showed that only 36% of the membrane surface was covered with keratinocytes after 9 days of culture. The present study examined the effects of coating the surface of PCL membranes with fibrin on the proliferation of keratinocytes. Qualitative analysis revealed that the cells attached and proliferated better on coated PCL films. Keratinocytes exhibited healthy cobblestone morphology and proliferated as continuous monolayers over a period of 16 days. The results indicated that fibrin coated PCL films would support the attachment and proliferation of human keratinocytes and have the potential to be applied as a matrix material for tissue engineering an epidermal equivalent.     

Increased response of Vero cells to PHBV matrices treated by plasma

The copolymers poly(3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid) (PHBV) are being intensely studied as a tissue engineering substrate. It is known that poly 3-hydroxybutyric acids (PHBs) and their copolymers are quite hydrophobic polyesters. Plasma-surface modification is an effective and economical surface treatment technique for many materials and of growing interest in biomedical engineering. In this study we investigate the advantages of oxygen and nitrogen plasma treatment to modify the PHBV surface to enable the acceleration of Vero cell adhesion and proliferation. PHBV was dissolved in methylene chloride at room temperature. The PHBV membranes were modified by oxygen or nitrogen-plasma treatments using a plasma generator. The membranes were sterilized by UV irradiation for 30 min and placed in 96-well plates. Vero cells were seeded onto the membranes and their proliferation onto the matrices was also determined by cytotoxicity and cell adhesion assay. After 2, 24, 48 and 120 h of incubation, growth of fibroblasts on matrices was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analyses of the membranes indicated that the plasma treatment decreased the contact angle and increased the surface roughness; it also changed surface morphology, and consequently, enhanced the hydrophilic behavior of PHBV polymers. SEM analysis of Vero cells adhered to PHBV treated by plasma showed that the modified surface had allowed better cell attachment, spreading and growth than the untreated membrane. This combination of surface treatment and polymer chemistry is a valuable guide to prepare an appropriate surface for tissue engineering application.     

Fabrication and Fibroblast Attachment Property of Regenerated Silk Fibroin/Tetramethoxysilane Nanofibrous Biocomposites

In this study, regenerated silk fibroin (RSF)/tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) composite electrospun fibers with improved hydrophilicity were successfully prepared by electrospinning method, which was superior for fibroblast attachment. The electrospinning process caused adjacent fibers to “weld” at contact points, as confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that TMOS has been well incorporated into the silk fibroin electrospun fibers. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was carried out to quantify the water content in RSF/TMOS composite electrospun fibers. The cytotoxicity and L929 adhesion of three‐dimensional RSF/TMOS fibrous biocompoaites were investigated and compared to pure RSF membrane. The water contact angle of RSF/TMOS nanofibrous composites showed a sharp decrease compared to the pure RSF electrospun fibers, which has a great effect on the early stage of cell attachment behavior due to an relatively enhanced hydrophilicity.     

Surface modified electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds for nerve tissue engineering

The development of biodegradable polymeric scaffolds with surface properties that dominate interactions between the material and biological environment is of great interest in biomedical applications. In this regard, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous scaffolds were fabricated by an electrospinning process and surface modified by a simple plasma treatment process for enhancing the Schwann cell adhesion, proliferation and interactions with nanofibers necessary for nerve tissue formation. The hydrophilicity of surface modified PCL nanofibrous scaffolds (p-PCL) was evaluated by contact angle and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies. Naturally derived polymers such as collagen are frequently used for the fabrication of biocomposite PCL/collagen scaffolds, though the feasibility of procuring large amounts of natural materials for clinical applications remains a concern, along with their cost and mechanical stability. The proliferation of Schwann cells on p-PCL nanofibrous scaffolds showed a 17% increase in cell proliferation compared to those on PCL/collagen nanofibrous scaffolds after 8 days of cell culture. Schwann cells were found to attach and proliferate on surface modified PCL nanofibrous scaffolds expressing bipolar elongations, retaining their normal morphology. The results of our study showed that plasma treated PCL nanofibrous scaffolds are a cost-effective material compared to PCL/collagen scaffolds, and can potentially serve as an ideal tissue engineered scaffold, especially for peripheral nerve regeneration.     

静电纺丝天然-人工合成聚合物复合纳米纤维及其对细胞黏附、增殖和迁移的影响

生物材料组成成分对细胞生物功能有不同的影响。利用静电纺丝技术制备了基于聚己内酯(PCL,polycaprolactone)的不同天然蛋白、多糖(丝素蛋白(SF,silk fibroin)、透明质酸(HA,hyaluronicacid))的混合组分纳米纤维,采用了扫描电镜和接触角对纳米纤维进行基础表征。同时,进一步考察了纳米纤维作为组织工程支架的可行性。研究结果表明SF组分能增加材料的可纺性,有利于细胞的前期黏附,并能够促进细胞增殖。HA组分可以改善材料的亲水性,增加细胞伪足并促进细胞迁移。重要的是,PCL/SF/HA纳米纤维能同时结合SF和HA的优点,有望在组织工程领域得到应用。     

Bioactive coatings by vaterite deposition on polymer substrates of different composition and morphology

Calcium carbonate particles of vaterite crystalline structure were deposited on the surface of polymer substrates of different chemistry and morphology by a slurry dipping technique using ethanol as a solvent. Artificial prosthetic fibrous ligaments (polyester-based) and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) 3-dimensional foams of high porosity were selected as model polymer substrates. The vaterite coated polymers were immersed in simulated body fluid to induce the formation of homogeneous hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) layers on the polymer surfaces, which were detected by SEM and XRD. The method offers great potential for inducing bioactive behaviour to normally bioinert polymers. In this investigation, fibrous structures for orthopaedic ligaments and 3-D porous tissue engineering scaffolds were considered and the application of the vaterite coating technique demonstrated.     

Type I Collagen Immobilized Poly(caprolactone) Nanofibers: Characterization of Surface Modification and Growth of Fibroblasts

Poly(caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun nanofibers were modified by aminolysis and collagen was immobilized on the aminolysed PCL nanofibers. Considering low immunogenic response collagen elicits, immobilization of the same is anticipated to enhance the tissue engineering application of the PCL nanofibers. Amino groups were introduced into PCL nanofibers through aminolysis process. Aminolysis of PCL nanofibers was confirmed by electron dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDX). Collagen was immobilized on aminolysed PCL nanofibers using glutaraldehyde as crosslinker. The collagen crosslinking on to PCL nanofibers was established by attenuated total reflectance‐Fourier transform infrared (ATR‐FTIR) spectroscopy. The fiber morphologies of PCL nanofibers at different stages were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The change in hydrophobicity of PCL nanofibers due to aminolysis and collagen immobilization was determined by water contact angle measurements. Aminolysis followed by collagen immobilization had reduced the intrinsic hydrophobicity of PCL nanofibers. NIH 3T3 fibroblasts were cultured for 2 days on PCL nanofibers, aminolysed PCL nanofibers, and aminolysed PCL nanofibers crosslinked with collagen. Cell attachment and growth were observed by MTT assay in each case. Collagen immobilization improved the biocompatibility of the PCL nanofibers. Thus the modified PCL nanofibers can be used as suitable broad spectrum scaffold for skin, cartilage, bone, cardiac constructs for efficient tissue engineering applications.     

玄武岩纤维表面改性对生物膜附着性能的影响

采用壳聚糖对玄武岩纤维(BF)进行表面改性处理,研究改性后玄武岩纤维对生物膜附着性能的影响。利用红外光谱、X射线光电子谱仪、扫描电镜等对改性前后玄武岩纤维的表面官能团、成分和形貌进行表征分析,通过接触角测量仪对样品的亲水性进行研究,最后通过挂膜实验,讨论生物膜在改性前后玄武岩纤维上的附着性能。结果表明:采用物理涂覆法可成功制备改性玄武岩纤维(MBF),所制得的MBF表面粗糙度为209.04nm,接触角为66.62°。MBF表面形成的生物膜均匀致密,生物膜附着量明显增大,挂膜率由(129.27±1.23)%增加至(179.92±2.63)%,说明壳聚糖改性玄武岩纤维可以有效提升生物膜的附着性能。     

Osteoblastic cells culture on electrospun poly(ε-caprolacton) scaffolds incorporating amphiphilic PEG–POSS telechelic

In this work, novel poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibrous membranes incorporating amphiphilic polyhedral oligosilsesquioxane (POSS) telechelic (PEG–POSS telechelic) were prepared via electrospinning. The unique microstructure, morphology, thermal stability of the resulting PCL/PEG–POSS telechelic electrospun nanowebs were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The addition of amphiphilic PEG–POSS telechelic strongly influenced the fiber diameters, microstructures of the resultant PCL/PEG–POSS telechelic nanofibers, compared to pure PCL nanofibers. The potential biomedical applications of such PEG–POSS telechelic nanowebs as a scaffolding material were also evaluated in vitro using mouse osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells. The cell adhesion, spreading, and interaction behavior of pure PCL and PCL/PEG–POSS telechelic fibrous membranes were explored. It was found that electrospun PCL fibrous membranes incorporating amphiphilic PEG–POSS telechelic showed higher initial cell attachment than pure PCL due to the higher surface free energy of POSS siloxanes. Moreover, the obtained PCL/PEG–POSS telechelic fibrous scaffolds were found to be nontoxic and to maintain the good adhesion ratio between cells and surface (about ~93 %) after cell culturing for 24 h.     

Hemocompatible surface of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds by ATRP modification

The electrospun scaffolds are potential application in vascular tissue engineering since they can mimic the nano-sized dimension of natural extracellular matrix (ECM). We prepared a fibrous scaffold from polycarbonateurethane (PCU) by electrospinning technology. In order to improve the hydrophilicity and hemocompatibility of the fibrous scaffold, poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) was grafted onto the fiber surface by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) method. Although SI-ATRP has been developed and used for surface modification for many years, there are only few studies about the modification of electrospun fiber by this method. The modified fibrous scaffolds were characterized by SEM, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The scaffold morphology showed no significant difference when PEGMA was grafted onto the scaffold surface. Based on the water contact angle measurement, the surface hydrophilicity of the scaffold surface was improved significantly after grafting hydrophilic PEGMA (P = 0.0012). The modified surface showed effective resistance for platelet adhesion compared with the unmodified surface. Activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of the PCU-g-PEGMA scaffold was much longer than that of the unmodified PCU scaffold. The cyto-compatibility of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds was tested by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The images of 7-day cultured cells on the scaffold surface were observed by SEM. The modified scaffolds showed high tendency to induce cell adhesion. Moreover, the cells reached out pseudopodia along the fibrous direction and formed a continuous monolayer. Hemolysis test showed that the grafted chains of PEGMA reduced blood coagulation. These results indicated that the modified electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds were potential application as artificial blood vessels.     

Synthesis and characterization of cholesterol-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactic acid) copolymers for promoting osteoblast attachment and proliferation

A novel cholesterol-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactic acid) copolymer (CPEG-PLA) has been synthesized as a potential surface additive for promoting osteoblast attachment and proliferation. The gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) results indicated the product had expected structure with low polydispersities in the range of 1.1–1.5. By blending the poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PLA) with CPEG-PLA, the surface of modified PLA membrane was investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle. The results revealed the enrichment of PEG chain on the surface. Osteoblast cell line (MC3T3) was chosen to test the cell behavior on modified PLA membranes. The osteoblast test about cell attachment, proliferation, cell viability and cell morphology investigation on CPEG-PLA modified PLA substrates showed the CPEG-PLA with 15 and 5 ethylene glycol units promoted osteoblast attachment and growth, while the CPEG-PLA with 30 ethylene glycol units prevent osteoblast adhesion and proliferation. This simple surface treatment method may have potentials for tissue engineering and other biomedical applications.     

AOPAN/RC纳米纤维膜的制备及对金属离子吸附性能

采用静电纺丝技术制备聚丙烯腈/醋酸纤维素(PAN/CA)纳米纤维膜,通过化学改性制备偕胺肟化聚丙烯腈/再生纤维素(AOPAN/RC)纳米纤维膜,研究了纳米纤维膜对单一金属离子(Fe~(3+))和混合金属离子(Cu~(2+)、Cd~(2+)、Fe~(3+))的吸附性能。通过扫描电镜、红外光谱、X射线能谱仪等测试对纳米纤维膜进行了表征,并通过静态接触角测定纳米纤维膜亲水性能。研究表明,改性后制备的AOPAN/RC纳米纤维膜的亲水性能得到较大改善,同时纳米纤维膜能够高效吸附溶液中的金属离子,纳米纤维膜对单一组分Fe~(3+)的饱和吸附可达411.21mg/g,对于混合金属离子溶液,纳米纤维膜对其吸附能力顺序为Fe~(3+)Cu~(2+)Cd~(2+),而且纳米纤维膜具备优良的重复使用能力。     

Studied on a novel human keratinocyte membrane delivery system in vitro

The culture of keratinocytes on flexible membranes has been proposed as a means to simplify, accelerate and improve the efficiency with which proliferating cells are delivered to full thickness or non-healing skin defects. The purpose of this article was to study the ability of chitosan-gelatin manbranes to facilitate the growth of human keratinocytes. The membranes with different chitosan contents were studied. The surface properties of chitosan-gelatin membranes were investigate by SEM, and water contact angle test. The mechanical property of the membranes was tested. Data implied that gelatin could make the membranes more flexible and hydrophilic than chitosan membranes, which may regulate the seeded cells behavior. Loading human keratinocytes on chitosan-gelatin membranes, cells attachment, spread, and growth were investigated by light microscopy, SEM, and MTT test. The results suggested that the adhesion and proliferation of keratinocytes seeded on chitosan-gelatin membranes were same as on tissue culture plate, in which gelatin could modify the interaction between keratinocytes and chitosan membranes. Therefore, chitosan-gelatin membrane is a good candidate for keratinocytes delivery system.     

Fabrication of PU/PEGMA crosslinked hybrid scaffolds by in situ UV photopolymerization favoring human endothelial cells growth for vascular tissue engineering

Poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) was introduced into a polyurethane (PU) solution in order to prepare electrospun scaffold with improving the biocompatibility by electrospinning technology for potential application as small diameter vascular scaffolds. Crosslinked electrospun PU/PEGMA hybrid nanofibers were fabricated by a reactive electrospinning process with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide as crosslinker and benzophenone as photoinitiator. The photoinduced polymerization and crosslinking reaction took place simultaneously during the electrospinning process. The electrospinning solutions with various weight ratios of PU/PEGMA were successfully electrospun. No significant difference in the scaffold morphology was found by SEM when PEGMA content was <20 wt%. The crosslinked fibrous scaffolds of PU/PEGMA exhibited higher mechanical strength than the pure PU scaffold. The hydrophilicity of scaffolds was controlled by varying the PU/PEGMA weight ratio. The tissue compatibility of electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds were tested using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Cell morphology and cell proliferation were measured by SEM, fluorescence microscopy and thiazolyl blue assay (MTT) after 1, 3, 7 days of culture. The results indicated that the cell morphology and proliferation on the crosslinked PU/PEGMA scaffolds were better than that on the pure PU scaffold. Furthermore, the appropriate hydrophilic surface with water contact angle in the range of 55-75° was favorable of improvement the HUVECs adhesion and proliferation. Cells seeded on the crosslinked PU/PEGMA (80/20) scaffolds infiltrated into the scaffolds after 7 days of growth. These results indicated the crosslinked electrospun PU/PEGMA nanofibrous scaffolds were potential substitutes for artificial vascular scaffolds.