Determination of Endothelial Cell Attachment and Proliferation on Nanofiber Based Microtubes Modified with Laminin-Derived Peptide

Nowadays, the most common problem in tissue engineering studies is the apoptosis of cells due to insufficient nutrient and oxygen transport. One of the major reasons for this problem is the inadequate vascularization of tissue and/or organ structures. In this study, the effect of PLGA nanofiber based microtubes modified with laminin-derived IKVAV peptide on endothelial cell attachment and proliferation by static and dynamic cell culture were investigated. Microtubes were fabricated with Poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) nanofibers by using electrospinning technique. PLGA nanofibers on microtubes were conjugated with IKVAV sequence. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were seeded by using static and dynamic cell seeding techniques. Also, they were cultured with static and dynamic culture techniques. For dynamic cell culture experiments, a bioreactor system was developed. Then, morphology analysis and MTT assay were assesed for each group. It was observed that endothelial cell attachment and proliferation were higher on IKVAV conjugated microtubes compared to PLGA nanofiber. Also, it was observed that dynamic seeding-dynamic culture group was more effective on cell attachment and proliferation.