In vitro study of strontium doped calcium polyphosphate-modified arteries fixed by dialdehyde carboxymethyl cellulose for vascular scaffolds

Dialdehyde carboxymethyl (DCMC) was select as an optimal crosslinking reagent for its excellent biocompatibility, appropriate degradable property and suitable chemical reactivity in our previous research. However, similar to other traditional crosslinking reagent, the endothelialization of biological vascular scaffolds fixed by DCMC was not sufficient enough. To overcome this limitation presented in DCMC-fixed arteries, a novel strategy was developed by introducing SCPP into arteries to investigate effects of strontium doped calcium polyphosphate (SCPP)-doping on the properties of DCMC-fixed arteries, especially on the endothelialization of fixed arteries. After modifying and crosslinking, their chemical structures, mechanical properties, stability, and cytocompatibility were examined. The result obtained from EDS analysis indicated SCPP was successfully introduced into DCMC-fixed arteries. Compared with purely DCMC-crosslinked ones, DCMC/SCPP modification has no significant effect on mechanical strength of fixed arteries, but a slight tend to improve the stability of fixed samples in D-Hanks solution. Moreover, MTT assay, SEM observation and live/dead assay implied that DCMC/SCPP modification could effectively stimulate HUVECs' adhesion and proliferation, and thus promote endothelialization process of fixed arteries. In this study, micron-sized SCPP particles were firstly applied to modify DCMC-crosslinked porcine arteries, and the results demonstrated this method could improve the endothelialization of fixed arteries. Therefore, DCMC/SCPP-modified arteries with excellent physicochemical properties and biocompatibility should be a promising materials for fabricating vascular scaffolds.