Functionalized core/shell nanofibers for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells for vascular tissue engineering

Hariharan Ezhilarasu, Asif Sadiq, Greeshma Ratheesh, Sreepathy Sridhar, Seeram Ramakrishna, Mohd Hasbi Ab. Rahim, Mashitah M Yusoff, Rajan Jose, Venugopal Jayarama Reddy

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    22 Citations (Scopus)

    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.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)201-214
    Number of pages14
    JournalNanomedicine
    Volume14
    Issue number2
    Early online date10 Dec 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019

    Keywords

    • VEGF
    • core/shell nanofibers
    • gelatin
    • mesenchymal stem cells
    • myosin
    • polymers
    • silk fibroin
    • smooth muscle cells
    • vascular tissue engineering
    • α-actinin

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Functionalized core/shell nanofibers for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells for vascular tissue engineering'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this