a naturally occurring cylindrical vessel ( e . g . an artery ) 10 consists primarily of a cylindrical sub - endothelial extracellular matrix 12 ( ecm ) having a peripheral surface 13 which supports endothelial cells 14 . cells 14 and the ecm 12 together define a vessel passageway 15 . the surface 13 of the ecm 12 has a plurality of highly complex surfaces which are schematically represented by hills and valleys ( 16 and 17 ). the endothelial cells 14 adhere to the naturally occurring surfaces of the ecm 12 . the present invention generates a synthetic ecm 12 &# 39 ; with a surface 13 &# 39 ; that precisely mimics the peripheral surface of ecm 12 . to produce an artificial ecm 12 &# 39 ;, an artery or vein 10 of the required size and morphology is obtained from an appropriate anatomical location and preferably from a mammalian species . examples are horse placenta and rabbit thoracic aorta , porcine iliac , femoral , and umbilicus , and human placenta and umbilicus . the vessel 10 is excised and stored in a suitable physiological buffer solution such as phosphate buffered saline ( pbs ) ( 154 mm nacl , 16 mm nah 2 po 4 , ph 7 . 3 ) with 1 , 000 units / liter porcine heparin , and placed on ice for transport . tissues are then used within 1 - 2 hours . to relax and smooth arterial muscles , 3 mm sodium nitrate , in fresh pbs , can be added to the bathing media . referring to fig2 cannula 11 are used at both proximal and distal ends to cannulate the vessel 10 . a syringe 18 is used at a proximal end to gently fill and distend the vessel 10 to its in vivo state , with pbs solution . any collateral vessels are ligated , as required . to insure that the physiological degree of distention is closely monitored , a water column manometer 20 is attached to the distal cannula 11 . the preferred physiological pressure is the naturally occurring pressure in the in vivo operating vessel 10 . for most arteries , a pressure of 80 mm hg (≈ 43 cm water ) approximates the mean actual blood pressure . for veins , a lower pressure is used . following distention , any blood remaining in the vessel 10 is removed by gentle irrigation with pbs . to expose the underlying ecm without causing damage to its structure , the luminal vessel surface 13 is gently denuded of its endothelial cell lining 14 by bubbling air through the distended vessel 10 for 1 - 2 minutes , followed by a gentle flushing through with pbs . the bubbling and flushing process is then repeated to insure the complete removal of adherent and nonadherent endothelial cells 14 . see generally d . bjorling et al ., 28 j . pharm tox . meth 149 - 157 ( 1992 ). the removal of endothelial cells 14 is monitored by observing turbidity in the flow stream at the distal end of the surface 10 . the quality of endothelial cell 14 removal , and the extent of any damage to the ecm 12 , is determined by examination with high resolution three dimensional ( stereo ) scanning electronmicroscopy ( 3 - d sem ). in addition to air - denuding , other methods may also be used to remove endothelial cells and epithelial cells . these include enzyme treatments such as trypsin , detergents such as saponin , balloon angioplasty , catheters , mechanical rubbing protocols , antagonists or cytotoxic agents for adhesive cells , antagonists to cell adhesion receptors such as arg - gly - asp peptides to inhibit integrin receptors , and / or specific antibodies ( or fragments thereof ) to adhesion receptors . referring next to fig3 after the endothelial cells 14 are denuded and removed from the luminal surface 13 , the ecm 12 is left behind . the matrix surfaces ( 16 and 17 ) are completely exposed , and define an enlarged vessel passageway 15 &# 39 ;. next , an inverse or negative &# 34 ; core &# 34 ; replica of the ecm 12 &# 39 ; is created with a 1 : 1 volume mixture of methylmethacrylate monomer and mercox cl - 2b resin 22 ( dainippon ink and chemicals , tokyo ). it is injected through the syringe 18 and completely displaces the pbs media within the enlarged passageway 15 &# 39 ;. after the passageway 15 &# 39 ; has been filled with the resin 22 , pressure within the passageway 15 &# 39 ; is adjusted and continuously monitored with the water column manometer 20 and brought to the appropriate physiological level . the catalyst ( benzoyl peroxide ) is pre - mixed with the methylmethacrylate ( at 0 . 16 g / ml ), which is then mixed with the mercox to a final 0 . 08 g / ml concentration prior to injection . the pre - mixed catalyst is added through the syringe 18 to the resin 22 to begin the polymerization process . polymerization does not commence for at least five minutes , thereby providing ample time to fill the vessel . stopcocks 25 at both the proximate and distal ends of the vessel passageway 15 &# 39 ; are closed and monitored in order to maintain steady pressure until the resin 22 has fully polymerized ( overnight or as little as 1 - 2 hours ). at all times throughout tissue preparation and casting , vessels 10 are maintained in a room temperature pbs bath . the bath also minimizes heating during polymerization . when filling large volumes , the heat of polymerization may require further chilling of the tissue bath . various other materials may be used for the core . these include variant methacrylate formulations and other commercial casting polymers ( e . g . batson &# 39 ; s resin , polysciences inc ., warrington , pa . ), as well as other polymers which can be polymerized in place . other materials that may also be used include materials which are infused as melts and then harden in place ( some polymers and metal alloys ), and materials which harden by other chemical means ( such as some ceramics ). the qualities necessary for good replication include low viscosity when injected in , minimal shrinkage , ability to replicate fine surface details , and minimal damage to biological tissues . in applications where the inverse core must be destroyed to be removed ( such as for the replication of organs , tissues and other complex luminal structures ), casting materials which are easily removed by solvation , chemical degradation , melting and / or other processes are preferred . low melting temperature metal alloys offer many of these features . referring to fig4 to expose the core 19 , the ecm and surrounding tissue 12 is preferably removed by a maceration process . rapid ecm 12 removal can be achieved by placing the ecm 12 in 5 % koh at 40 ° c . for 1 - 2 days , followed by 2 - 3 days in 1 % koh . each day the hydroxide bath is changed . following complete ecm and tissue 12 removal , the core 19 is thoroughly rinsed in distilled water , followed by 100 % ethanol , and then air dried from ethanol . at this point , the quality of the negative core 19 may be assessed with a 3d stereo sem . referring to fig5 the resulting core 19 will be the inverse of the original ecm 12 . each hill 27 of the core 19 represents a valley 17 on the ecm 12 , and each valley 28 on the core 19 represents a hill 16 on the ecm 12 . with other casting materials , different corrosion agents may be required if caustic conditions ( such as naoh or koh ) damage the inverse ecm replica . such other corrosion means include detergents , enzymes , and biodegradation with bacterial , cellular , or organism cultures . in addition , with casts of other materials , and with casts of especially delicate structures , air drying from ethanol may not sufficiently minimize surface tension drying forces . other techniques , such as air drying from other low surface tension media , drying from the critical point , and / or freeze drying , may be required . the drying step may also be eliminated with some protocols described in section iv , below . referring to fig5 and 6 , a synthetic ecm 12 &# 39 ; is prepared by using the core 19 as a molding core to create synthetic biotextured surfaces ( e . g . 12 &# 39 ;). in the present example , solution grade biomer ( ethicon inc ., somerville , n . j .) is chosen . it is a polyurethane biomaterial . the synthetic ecm 12 &# 39 ; is prepared by dipping the core 19 a minimum of ten times into a 4 % solution ( weight / volume ) of biomer in dimethyl acetamide . this provides a polyurethane film thickness of 10 to 15 μm which is suitable for cellular adhesion assays . thicker conduits can be prepared with more dips . the core 19 is then removed by solvation in acetone to expose a synthetic ecm 12 &# 39 ; with a luminal replica surface 13 &# 39 ; which has precisely the same hill and valley ( 16 &# 39 ; and 17 &# 39 ;) configuration which was originally present on the luminal surface 13 of the naturally occurring ecm 12 . while &# 34 ; biomer &# 34 ; was used in our initial studies , other polyurethanes may also be used . these include polyether polyurethanes , polyester polyurethanes , other biostable polyurethanes , and polyurethanes which incorporate special chemistries designed to influence cell behavior ( e . g . materials which incorporate or are grafted with bioactive chemical groups ). other materials such as porous polymers , materials which are designed to degrade to be replaced by the body &# 39 ; s tissues , and materials with surface chemical modifications are also possible . this includes materials of biological origin , as well as synthetic polymers , metals and ceramics . as described , coatings may be applied by virtually any process , including casting from solvent by dip , spray and phase inversion casting , as well as plasma deposition . porous structures can be formed either during the replication of the core by solvent manipulations ( such as phase inversion ), or by processing after the replication process . porosity may also be achieved after replication by selective solvation , ion beam etching , plasma treatment , and other techniques . post replication modifications can be used to incorporate bioactive groups ( such as adhesion peptides , carbohydrate moieties , anti - thrombotic agents , and anti - bacterial agents ), and / or to alter surface chemistry through wet chemistry , and / or plasma treatments . post replication techniques can also be used to modify the geometry of the replica , such as producing or sealing holes , joining , straightening , and curving the replica . for example , when replicas of vascular networks are used to encapsulate cells , the ends of vessels may be sealed to form the capsule by the selective application of solvents , adhesives , or heat ( with thermoplastic resins ). natural biopolymers may be used in the replica , such as collagen , fibronectin , laminin and other ecm proteins , by casting and / or polymerizing these against the negative cast . by the same process , diffusible agents such as growth factors may also be incorporated into the material to optimize cellular behavior on the biotextured surface . these are all intended to be within the definition of &# 34 ; synthetic &# 34 ; or &# 34 ; artificial &# 34 ;. polymers which are designed to degrade may be used to create a controlled release of such compounds . degradable materials may also be used to facilitate the replacement of the device &# 39 ; s structure by the host &# 39 ; s own tissues in an implanted device . if required , the initial negative cast may be replicated twice in order to prepare the core in a stronger form , thus of sufficient strength for multiple uses as an impression mold . as an alternative , a suitable strong core could create a surface on a flat plate by rolling the core on the plate while the plate is still soft . by using a suitably solvent resistant negative core , tubular replicas ( such as vascular grafts ) may be removed by swelling the replica material in an appropriate ( e . g . floury ) solvent , and then subsequently removing the solvent to restore the tubular replica to its original dimensions . this would permit the negative core to be used repeatedly as a production mandril . referring to fig7 bovine aortic endothelial cells 14 &# 39 ; ( baecs ), cultured in dulbeccos modified essential media containing 20 % fetal bovine serum and 2 mm glutamine , are plated at a density of 4 × 10 4 cells / ml onto the textured synthetic surface 13 . the endothelial cells 14 &# 39 ; are cultured in an 8 % co 2 incubator at 37 ° c . the cells were then allowed to attach and spread for up to four days , and then fixed with 1 % glutaraldehyde in hepes buffer ( ph 7 . 3 ). samples were then post - fixed in 0 . 05 % oso 4 in hepes , dehydrated in serial ethanols , dried and ion beam pt coated for low voltage sem scanning . three dimensional sem observation of the ecm 12 exposed by the air denuding protocol showed that virtually 100 % of endothelial cells 14 were removed , and there was no apparent damage to the ecm 12 . for comparison , vessels 10 denuded by gentle rubbing with cotton swabs show that rubbing does not remove all endothelial cells 14 and can cause tearing of the extracellular matrix 12 . three dimensional sem imaging of the core 19 shows excellent replication of the ecm 12 . faithfully replicated are overall vessel shape ( centimeters ) as well as microscopic features including the complex fiber matrixes , pores , clefts and nuclei - sized depressions found in the naturally occurring ecm 12 , including macromolecular topographies as small as circa 10 nm . in other experiments , we have demonstrated accurate methacrylate casts of certain organs and tissues . while the above discussion relates to luminal endothelial systems , with other geometries and / or non - vascular tissues , the process would entail a similar denuding step . then a tubular &# 34 ; core &# 34 ; for an &# 34 ; outer &# 34 ; surface would be formed between an outer removable tube and the sub - extracellular matrix . the core would then have the replica formed inside of it . examples include replication of the sub - epithelial ecm of corneas and skin , and sub - endothelial ecm of heart valves . our tests have shown that the ecm - textured surface promotes more rapid initial cell spreading of baecs than did an untextured control surface . cell seeding and attachment progresses more rapidly on this substrate . additionally , the more rounded appearance of baecs at 4 day confluent culture ( and consequently smaller spread area in confluent culture ) indicated that the final result is a structure much more like that observed in native arteries than observed on smooth control surfaces . the strength of cell adhesion should also be increased due to the large area of surface contact on the highly textured surface , and since its topography permits mechanical interlocking . additionally , since the texture replicates that of the ecm , the surface should also have the benefit of facilitating phenotypic differentiation of cells . our biotextured materials will find utility in many biomedical and biotechnological applications . applications inside the body include implanted medical devices in which controlled cell adhesion is desired ( e . g . vascular grafts , prosthetic cardiac valves , artificial corneas , artificial skin , orthopedic and dental prosthetics , implanted drug delivery devices , biosensors , encapsulated cell transplants , and organoids ) and on the surface of implanted device enclosures such as pacemaker enclosures . biotechnological applications outside the body include laboratory culture dishes and bioreactors for adhesion dependent cell cultures . by employing the technology with whole organs and tissues , rather than isolated blood vessels , the vascular structure ( or other luminal and non - luminal structures ) of entire tissues may also be replicated . due to the high density and surface area of such organs and tissues , these structures should be useful for culturing extremely high numbers of cells per unit volume within a device with an appropriate ( evolution optimized ) geometry for excellent delivery and transport of nutrients , wastes and desired products to and from cultured cells . replicas of some vascular capillary networks may also be useful as containers for therapeutic cell transplants ( such as pancreatic islets and other cells ), even without being incorporated into a vascular circulation . since ( replicas of ) many vascular tissues have extremely high surface to volume ratios , with luminal diameters which are at most a few cell diameters across , these replicas can encapsulate extremely high numbers of cells in a small volume , with the maximum surface area for diffusion into and out of the device . such replicates of tissue or organ architecture may also be used in biotechnology ( in bioreactors ) and in medicine , as the 3 - dimensional basis of artificial organs , organoids , and drug delivery devices .
synthetic biotextured surfaces and methods to produce the surface are disclosed . the surfaces mimic the topography of a surface of a naturally occurring sub - endothelial or sub - epithelial extracellular matrix . this is achieved by removing a cell layer from the naturally occurring extracellular matrix substrate , covering the extracellular matrix with a casting material , and allowing the casting material to harden . one then removes extracellular matrix from the casting material to uncover a negative core , and then uses the negative core to cast the replica material . by removing the negative core from the replica material one then creates the synthetic surface .