Plasma‐Polymerized Nanoparticles Presenting Fibrillin‐1 Drive Rapid Re‐Endothelialization of Vascular Grafts

TL;DR

A new coating using plasma-polymerized nanoparticles with a fibrillin-1 peptide helps vascular grafts form a healthy endothelial layer quickly, improving their performance.

Contribution

A novel surface coating using plasma-polymerized nanoparticles functionalized with a fibrillin-1 peptide is developed to enhance vascular graft endothelialization.

Findings

PPN surface modification significantly reduces ePTFE hydrophobicity and promotes endothelial cell attachment and proliferation.

PPN-PF8 functionalized grafts rapidly re-endothelialize in a rat model, with extensive endothelial coverage at 3 weeks.

The modified grafts show increased tPA secretion and reduced fibrin deposition, indicating a functional endothelial layer.

Abstract

Small diameter vascular grafts made from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) dominate clinical practice but are prone to high failure rates due to poor endothelialization, acute thrombosis or mid‐term neointimal hyperplasia. The highly hydrophobic surface of ePTFE inhibits endothelial cell attachment and proliferation, making timely recovery of the protective endothelial layer a key challenge. Chemically inert, highly hydrophobic polymers such as ePTFE are amongst the most difficult to improve with biofunctionalization. To address this, a novel surface coating comprising a new class of plasma polymerized nanoparticles (PPN) functionalized with bioactive PF8, a recombinant fibrillin‐1 peptide is developed. PPN surface modification significantly reduces ePTFE hydrophobicity, enabling efficient surface coating of PPN‐PF8 and promoting endothelial attachment and proliferation in vitro. In a rat abdominal aortic interposition model, PPN‐PF8 functionalized ePTFE grafts rapidly re‐endothelialized, with extensive coverage of endothelial cells at 3 weeks post‐implantation. This leads to increased tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) secretion and reduced fibrin deposition, indicating the formation of a healthy, functional endothelial layer. These findings highlight the potential of plasma‐polymerized nanoparticles presenting fibrillin‐1 to drive rapid re‐endothelialization, offering an accessible and scalable method for improving the performance of small‐diameter vascular grafts.

Commercial vascular grafts are made from ePTFE, a highly hydrophobic, foreign material that fails at a high rate in small‐diameter applications. Plasma polymer nanoparticles (PPN) are a versatile material functionalisation tool, used here to present fibrillin‐1 fragment PF8 on the graft surface. PPN‐PF8 grafts demonstrate significantly enhanced endothelialisation in vivo.

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