Development of an electrospun biomimetic polyurea scaffold suitable for vascular grafting

The optimization of biomechanical and biochemical properties of a vascular graft to render properties relevant to physiological environments is a major challenge today. These critical properties of a vascular graft not only regulate its stability and integrity, but also control invasion of cells for scaffold remodeling permitting its integration with native tissue. In this work, we have synthesized a biomimetic scaffold by electrospinning a blend of a polyurea, poly(serinol hexamethylene urea) (PSHU), and, a polyester, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL). Mechanical properties of the scaffold were varied by varying polymer blending ratio and electrospinning flow rate. Mechanical characterization revealed that scaffolds with lower PSHU content relative to PCL content resulted in elasticity close to native mammalian arteries. We also found that increasing electrospinning flow rates also increased the elasticity of the matrix. Optimization of elasticity generated scaffolds that enabled vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to adhere, grow and maintain a SMC phenotype. The 30/70 scaffold also underwent slower degradation than scaffolds with higher PSHU content, thereby, providing the best option for in vivo remodeling. Further, Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGD) covalently conjugated to the polyurea backbone in 30/70 scaffold resulted in significantly increased clotting times. Reducing surface thrombogenicity by the conjugation of RGD is critical to avoiding intimal hyperplasia. Hence, biomechanical and biochemical properties of a vascular graft can be balanced by optimizing synthesis parameters and constituent components. For these reasons, the optimized RGD-conjugated 30/70 scaffold electrospun at 2.5 or 5 mL/h has great potential as a suitable material for vascular grafting applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 278-290, 2018.