Endothelialized ePTFE Graft by Nanobiotechnology

National Taiwan University

Status: Completed

Conditions: The On-site Capturing of the Endothelial (Progenitor) Cells by Peptide-mediated Selective Adhesion in Vitro and in Vivo Will Also be Elucidated.; The Apparatus for Processing the Tubular Graft Modification Will be Designed and Evaluated.; The Patency Rate of ITRI-made Artificial Blood Vessels Will be Evaluated by the Porcine Animal Model.

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02002104

201009047R

Details and patient eligibility

About

The replacement of autologous blood vessels by artificial grafts is urgently needed in clinical applications. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts are the most clinically used artificial blood vessels because of its chemical and mechanical stability. But, when used as arteriovenous (AV) grafts for haemodialysis, small diameter ePTFE grafts have a high failure rate of 40% in three years in vivo because of the functional lack of an intact endothelial cell layer. Here we developed a two-step modification including chemical etching and plasma activation to enhance the hydrophilicity of ePTFE. Peptide motifs (eg. cyclic RRE, RGD) known to bind integrins on the endothelial cells were immobilized on ePTFE grafts. Functional peptide immobilization significantly increased the adherence and growth of HUVEC cells on ePTFEs. Patch ePTFE implantation in the pig's descending aorta was used to evaluate the in vivo endothelialization of these modified ePTFE grafts. At 28 days implantation, newly formed endothelial layers on peptide-immobilized ePTFE grafts were demonstrated by SEM and histological analysis. These preliminary data showed the potential to grow an intact endothelial layer to improve the patency rate of the modified ePTFE grafts.

Enrollment: 6 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 20 to 80 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Obtained from the peripheral blood leukocyte thick liquid (Hsinchu Blood Center, Taiwan Blood Services Fundation) Times - sampled 20 ~ 40ml / time, 2 to 3 times / month

Trial design

6 participants in 2 patient groups

EPCs

Description:

No proliferation and no differentiation on the ePTFEs

Modified ePTFE

Description:

EPCs adherence, proliferation and differentiation on the ePTFEs.