Diffusion of bioactive molecules through the walls of the medial tissue‐engineered hybrid ePTFE grafts for applications in designs of vascular tissue regeneration

Strategies of better vascular tissue engineering may require delivery of soluble bioactive signals in cell culture medium to the cells in tissue‐regenerating constructs. We measured the diffusivity and permeability of model tissue‐engineering bioactive molecules such as water and heparin through the walls of both a hybrid ePTFE graft and a porcine carotid artery, a model vascular tissue. While diffusivities of H 3 ‐water and H 3 ‐heparin were measured as 3.9 × 10 − 6 and 1.6 × 10 − 6 cm 2 /s in the artery, respectively, under diffusional circulation of cell culture medium through the lumens of the carotid arteries, their corresponding permeabilities were 4.7 × 10 − 5 and 2.0 × 10 − 5 cm/s. On the other hand, diffusivities of H 3 ‐water and H 3 ‐heparin were also measured as 5.1 × 10 − 6 and 4.7 × 10 − 6 cm 2 /s, respectively, in the tissue‐engineered hybrid ePTFE grafts; their corresponding permeabilities were 5.1 × 10 − 5 and 3.7 × 10 − 5 cm/s. The hybrid graft tissues were engineered by replacing the biodegradable, porous poly(lactide‐ co ‐glycolide) layers coated on the ePTFE surfaces with smooth muscle cell‐derived tissues for 6 weeks. We analyzed the morphologies of the artery and the engineered hybrid ePTFE tissues with scanning electron microscopy and H&E stains. While the artery had its typical structure properties with layers of intima, media and adventitia, the tissue‐engineered ePTFE hybrid graft had two layers of engineered tissues on the inner and outer surfaces of the ePTFE. There were no significant differences among the luminal tissue morphologies of the test samples from the effects of diffusion flow applications, with minor changes on their luminal surfaces. The results of water and heparin diffusion experiments indicated that these bioactive molecules were well transported from the cell culture medium to the tissue‐engineering cells, enough to support tissue regeneration. We hope that these transport results may elucidate the transport behaviors of soluble nutrient molecules and biological signals through the vascular constructs under tissue engineering processes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2006