Several attempts made so far to combine silk fibroin and polyurethane, in order to prepare scaffolds encompassing the bioactivity of the former with the elasticity of the latter, suffer from critical drawbacks concerning industrial and clinical applicability (e.g., separation of phases upon processing, use of solvents unaddressed by the European Pharmacopoeia, use of degradable polyurethanes). Overcoming these limitations, in this study we report the successful blending of regenerated silk fibroin with a medical-grade, nondegradable polyurethane using formic acid and dichloromethane, and the manufacturing of hybrid, semi-degradable electrospun tubular meshes with different ratios of the two materials. Physicochemical analyses demonstrated the maintenance of the characteristic features of fibroin and polyurethane upon solubilisation, blending, electrospinning and post-processing with ethanol or methanol. Envisioning their possible application as semi-degradable substrates for haemodialysis arteriovenous grafts, tubular meshes were further characterized, showing sub-micrometric fibrous morphologies, tuneable mechanical properties, permeability before and after puncture in the same order of magnitude as commercial grafts currently used in the clinics. Results demonstrate the potential of this material for the development of hybrid, new-generation vascular grafts with disruptive potential in the field of in situ tissue engineering.

Electrospun fibroin/polyurethane hybrid meshes: manufacturing, characterization and potentialities as substrates for haemodialysis arteriovenous grafts

V Catto;A C L Redaelli;
2019-01-01

Abstract

Several attempts made so far to combine silk fibroin and polyurethane, in order to prepare scaffolds encompassing the bioactivity of the former with the elasticity of the latter, suffer from critical drawbacks concerning industrial and clinical applicability (e.g., separation of phases upon processing, use of solvents unaddressed by the European Pharmacopoeia, use of degradable polyurethanes). Overcoming these limitations, in this study we report the successful blending of regenerated silk fibroin with a medical-grade, nondegradable polyurethane using formic acid and dichloromethane, and the manufacturing of hybrid, semi-degradable electrospun tubular meshes with different ratios of the two materials. Physicochemical analyses demonstrated the maintenance of the characteristic features of fibroin and polyurethane upon solubilisation, blending, electrospinning and post-processing with ethanol or methanol. Envisioning their possible application as semi-degradable substrates for haemodialysis arteriovenous grafts, tubular meshes were further characterized, showing sub-micrometric fibrous morphologies, tuneable mechanical properties, permeability before and after puncture in the same order of magnitude as commercial grafts currently used in the clinics. Results demonstrate the potential of this material for the development of hybrid, new-generation vascular grafts with disruptive potential in the field of in situ tissue engineering.
2019
hybrid, semi-degradable material, polyurethane fibroin blend, electrospun vascular graft, haemodialysis;
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11311/1066302
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