Silica nanoparticles enhance the cyto- and hemocompatibility of a multilayered extracellular matrix scaffold for vascular tissue regeneration

Purpose The limited availability of autologous vessels for vascular bypass surgeries is a major roadblock to treating severe cardiovascular diseases. Based on this clinical priority, our group has developed a novel engineered vascular graft by rolling human amniotic membranes into multilayered extracellular matrixes (ECM). When treated with silica nanoparticles (SiNP), these rolled scaffolds showed a significant improvement in their structural and mechanical properties, matching those from gold standard autologous grafts. However, it remained to be determined how cells respond to SiNP-treated materials. As a first step toward understanding the biocompatibility of SiNP-dosed biomaterials, we aimed to assess how endothelial cells and blood components interact with SiNP-treated ECM scaffolds. Methods To test this, we used established in vitro assays to study SiNP and SiNP-treated scaffolds’ cyto and hemocompatibility. Results Our results showed that SiNP effects on cells were concentration-dependent with no adverse effects observed up to 10 μg/ml of SiNP, with higher concentrations inducing cytotoxic and hemolytic responses. The SiNP also enhanced the scaffold’s hydrophobicity state, a feature known to inhibit platelet and immune cell adhesion. Accordingly, SiNP-treated scaffolds were also shown to support endothelial cell growth while preventing platelet and leukocyte adhesion. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the addition of SiNP to human amniotic membrane extracellular matrixes improves the cyto- and hemocompatibility of rolled scaffolds and highlights this strategy as a robust mechanism to stabilize layered collagen scaffolds for vascular tissue regeneration.