Nitric Oxide Generation and Endothelial Progenitor Cells Recruitment for Improving Hemocompatibility and Accelerating Endothelialization of Tissue Engineering Heart Valve |
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Authors: | Ying Zhou Ge Yan Shuyu Wen Wai Yen Yim Zihao Wang Xing Chen Yin Xu Xue Chen Hong Cao Peng Bai Fei Li Jiawei Shi Jianglin Wang Weihua Qiao Nianguo Dong |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430000 China;2. Advanced Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Center, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430000 China |
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Abstract: | Tissue engineering heart valve (TEHV) offers great potential to overcome the limitations of commercial artificial valves used in clinical practice as a permanent prosthetic valve. Currently, decellularized heart valve (DHV) is the most widely used scaffold for TEHV, but showed suboptimal performance due to difficulty of endothelialization. Facilitating endothelialization of DHV is indispensable for better valve performance, and excellent hemocompatibility guarantees enough time windows for endothelialization process. Herein, a dual-functional TEHV scaffold with improving hemocompatibility and accelerating endothelialization is constructed by modifying DHV with copper ions (Cu) and growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11). Results show the newly-constructed scaffold successfully generates endogenous nitric oxide (NO) through catalysis of Cu, and possesses improved hemocompatibility by down-regulating platelets activation and adhesion. Furthermore, GDF11 immobilization significantly accelerates scaffold endothelialization through facilitating recruitment, supporting growth, and alleviating apoptosis of endothelial progenitor cells . This TEHV scaffold shows favorable performance under in vivo hemodynamic environment with intact endothelial coverage and adaptive ECM remodeling, and without thrombus or calcification formation. This newly-constructed TEHV scaffold is expected to make up for the shortcomings of currently available prosthetic valves in clinical practice and has the potential possibility of rapid translation to the clinic as a better prosthetic valve. |
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Keywords: | endothelialization growth differentiation factor 11 hemocompatibility nitric oxide generation tissue engineering heart valves |
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