PEGylated chitosan and PEGylated PLCL for blood vessel repair: An in vitro study

In this study, we fabricated native tissue mimicking a bilayered small-diameter vascular graft based on PEGylated chitosan (PEG–CS) and poly(l-lactic acid-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL). PEG–CS possesses good hemocompatibility, and as the inner layer of a vascular graft, it is more likely to swell and deform to debris, causing a blood clot, so the PLCL was added to stabilize it. In order to optimize the performance of the inner layer, PEG–CS blends with different ratios of PLCL (P/C:PLCL) casting films were fabricated, and endothelial cell compatibility and hemocompatibility were tested. The outer layer of the graft was fabricated via electrospinning with PLCL blends with different ratios of water-soluble polyethylene glycol. After water treatment, we tested smooth muscle cell penetration. Designing a two-layer vascular graft structure with an inner layer of P/C:PLCL = 1:6 and an outer layer being composed of a PLCL blend with 12% polyethylene glycol offers very good hemocompatibility and fast cell growth and also reserves well mechanical properties with good cell infiltration. Therefore, this kind of graft has a high potential to be used as an artificial blood vessel.