(State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China)
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DOI:
10.7502/j.issn.1674-3962.2012.09.02
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Abstract:
Although there is a growing demand of small diameter vascular grafts for cardiovascular disease, the incidence rate of restenosis caused by vascular grafts remains high. An effective approach to improve the function of smalldiameter vascular grafts and realize the blood vessel regeneration would be to induce a healing response in vivo for tissue engineering. In this article, we summarize the recent research developments on smalldiameter vascular grafts, and highlight the main designing ideas and research outcomes in our laboratory. The work includes structural design and fabrication of porous scaffolds, anticlotting modification, functionalization for endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) capture, creation of microenvironment for vascular smooth muscle regeneration and angiogenesis. Some directions and problems on future research in these areas are also discussed.