Abstract Clinical application of small-diameter artificial vascular grafts has been hampered by intimal blockages owing to the lack of an endothelial layer and the formation of thrombosis. In this study, an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular graft was fabricated using a biofriendly ethanol/water mixture as a lubricant and drug carrier. Natural silk fibroin (SF) hydrogel and white willow extract salicin were embedded into ePTFE graft successfully via the ethanol/water lubricant and drug carrier as verified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The ePTFE graft functionalized by SF hydrogel improved the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) due to SF’s hydrophilia and cytocompatibility as measured by the live/dead and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assays. The rapid endothelialization of ePTFE graft helped reduced intimal blockages in vitro. Furthermore, the salicin-modified ePTFE graft exhibited an anticoagulation property as demonstrated by platelet adhesion and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) tests. These results suggest that ePTFE graft fabricated with silk fibroin and salicin can be an attractive candidate for vascular grafts.

中文翻译：

---

用于改善内皮化和抗凝的膨胀聚四氟乙烯/丝素/水杨苷血管移植物制造

摘要 由于缺乏内皮层和血栓形成，小直径人工血管移植物的临床应用受到内膜阻塞的阻碍。在这项研究中，使用生物友好的乙醇/水混合物作为润滑剂和药物载体制造了膨胀的聚四氟乙烯 (ePTFE) 血管移植物。天然丝素蛋白 (SF) 水凝胶和白柳提取物水杨苷通过乙醇/水润滑剂和药物载体成功嵌入 ePTFE 移植物中，经傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR) 和 X 射线光电子能谱 (XPS) 验证。由于 SF 的亲水性和细胞相容性，由 SF 水凝胶功能化的 ePTFE 移植物改善了人脐静脉内皮细胞 (HUVEC) 的增殖，如通过活/死和细胞计数试剂盒 8 (CCK-8) 测定所测量的。ePTFE 移植物的快速内皮化有助于减少体外内膜阻塞。此外，水杨苷修饰的 ePTFE 移植物表现出抗凝特性，如血小板粘附和活化部分凝血活酶时间 (APTT) 测试所示。这些结果表明，用丝素蛋白和水杨苷制造的 ePTFE 移植物可以成为血管移植物的有吸引力的候选者。