Vascular Graft Coating for Transmural Endothelialization

There are currently no artificial polymeric vascular grafts with an internal diameter of less thanadequate long-term patency, with occlusion being due to a combination of thrombus formation and intiproject will improve the patency of such grafts by promoting rapid and stable transmural endothelialendothelialization process, capillaries from surrounding tissue invade the wall porosity of grafts acells (EC's) which colonize the graft lumen at multiple points along its length. If the resultant enand exhibits a sufficiently normal physiology, it would maintain graft patency by inhibiting both thintimal hyperplasia. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts with an internodal distance ofto provide a wall porosity that is sufficient to allow capillary ingrowth, and ECM proteins and peptimmobilized into the graft porosity to actively stimulate capillary ingrowth. During Phase I, 3 protbe photoimmobilized onto ePTFE grafts and evaluated: 1) in vitro for attachment, migration, and prolendothelial cells and 2) in vivo for capillary ingrowth and transmural endothelialization.