Hariharan Ezhilarasu1, Asif Sadiq1, Greeshma Ratheesh2, Sreepathy Sridhar3, Seeram Ramakrishna1, Mohd Hasbi Ab Rahim4, Mashitah M Yusoff4, Rajan Jose4, Venugopal Jayarama Reddy1,4. 1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Center for Nanofibers & Nanotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore. 2. Institute of Health & Biomedical Innovation, Science & Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia. 3. Department of Mechanical & Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK. 4. Faculty of Industrial Sciences & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Gambang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.
Abstract
AIM: Atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular disease causing medical problems globally leading to coronary artery bypass surgery. The present study is to fabricate core/shell nanofibers to encapsulate VEGF for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into smooth muscle cells to develop vascular grafts. MATERIALS & METHODS: The fabricated core/shell nanofibers contained polycaprolactone/gelatin as the shell, and silk fibroin/VEGF as the core materials. RESULTS: The results observed that the core/shell nanofibers interact to differentiate MSCs into smooth muscle cells by the expression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractile proteins α-actinin, myosin and F-actin. CONCLUSION: The functionalized polycaprolactone/gelatin/silk fibroin/VEGF (250 ng) core/shell nanofibers were fabricated for the controlled release of VEGF in a persistent manner for the differentiation of MSCs into smooth muscle cells for vascular tissue engineering.
AIM: Atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular disease causing medical problems globally leading to coronary artery bypass surgery. The present study is to fabricate core/shell nanofibers to encapsulate VEGF for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into smooth muscle cells to develop vascular grafts. MATERIALS & METHODS: The fabricated core/shell nanofibers contained polycaprolactone/gelatin as the shell, and silk fibroin/VEGF as the core materials. RESULTS: The results observed that the core/shell nanofibers interact to differentiate MSCs into smooth muscle cells by the expression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) contractile proteins α-actinin, myosin and F-actin. CONCLUSION: The functionalized polycaprolactone/gelatin/silk fibroin/VEGF (250 ng) core/shell nanofibers were fabricated for the controlled release of VEGF in a persistent manner for the differentiation of MSCs into smooth muscle cells for vascular tissue engineering.