In vitro characterisation of small diameter vascular graft: testing of different geometrical organisation for the growth of the tunica media/muscular layer MSc Stem Cells and Regeneration

The global prevalence of peripheral artery disease was 5.6% in 2015, indicating that ~236 million adults were living with this condition worldwide. Surgical bypass, the most effective treatment of PAD, reached a peak of 550,000 interventions per year globally. Autologous vessels are currently the preferred vascular graft for vascular surgeons, with the autogenous saphenous vein representing the gold standard for below-the-knee surgical grafting. However, limited availability, invasive harvesting, and unstandardised quality represent a significant problem. The aim of our research is to develop a novel prosthetic tissue engineering vascular graft to overcome the lack of autologous vessels for surgical bypass grafting. Recent research trends suggest that prosthetic vascular grafts need to replicate the structural and functional features of native blood vessels to improve the outcomes. Novel vascular grafts are designed with appropriate geometries and architectural topography to direct the evolution of a neovessel. Native arteries are formed by three main layers: tunica intima, tunica media and
adventitia. For the fabrication of vascular grafts, when attempting to generate a structure that resembles the tunica media, the stacking and orientation of the vascular smooth muscle cells must be taken into high consideration. In this study, we will investigate how the fibres topography of different scaffolds affects the adhesion and organisation of VSMCs to generate
a tunica-like layer of a small-diameter vascular graft. We will use four different scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning