Self-vascularizing Antifibrotic Biomaterials—A Pilot Study

Introduction A major problem in tissue engineering is vascularisation of an implant/tissue, or at least the peri-implantational area. Furthermore, once a fibrotic capsule is established, the approach of small blood vessels to the implant is blocked. As a novel vascularization strategy, we have recently proposed to use prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors (PHi) as they possess both angiogenic and antifibrotic effects [1, 2]. We seek to develop a biomaterial with both vascularization and antifibrotic properties by incorporating PHi into electrospun medical grade poly--caprolactone/collagen and electrosprayed hyaluronic acid hydrogel, Heprasil (mPCL/Col-Hep) scaffolds.