HUMAN VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL-CELLS ON EXPANDED PTFE PRECOATED WITH AN ENGINEERED PROTEIN ADHESION FACTOR

To elucidate the role of the molecular structure of adhesive proteins in an endothelialization of synthetic vascular prosthesis in vitro, a recombinant fibronectin-like engineered adhesion factor (FP) construct ed from the specific Arg-Gly-Asp cell adhesion repeats was assayed as adhesive substrate to culture human saphenous vein endothelial cells o n ePTFE. ePTFE samples (I cm(2)) inserted into cell culture chambers w ere coated by incubation with increasing amounts of FP (up to 100 mu g /cm(2)) prior to cell seeding. At 24 hours after low density cell seed ing and 20 mu g/ml/cm(2) FP concentration, the number of adhered cells reached a plateau and the adhered cells did not proliferate up to 6 d ays of culture. At 24 hours after high density seeding (10(5) cells/cm (2)), the number of adhered cells was significantly higher on ePTFE wi th preadsorbed FP than on fibronectin coated PTFE. About 55% of the in itially adhered cells survived up to 7 days on FP, whereas cell debris and free nuclei were predominant on fibronectin coated PTFE. In the i nvestigated model the engineered RGD polymer potentialized a short-ter m adhesion of vascular endothelial cells to PTFE, nevertheless it did not ensure proliferation and long-term survival of these cells.