Implantable prosthetic vascular device having an adherent cell monolayer produced under shear stress

Abstract

A device having a surface coated with a firmly adherent cell monolayer is produced by culturing adherent cells in the presence of the surface in vitro under conditions of continuous shear stress of from 0.4 dyne/cm.sup.2 to 33 dyne/cm.sup.2 produced by the force of circulating fluid medium in contact with the cells. The surface may be contained by an implantable device, or a culture or fermentation vessel. Preferably, an endothelial cell monolayer is produced on a surface of a prosthetic vascular device made of polypropylene. In a hollow fiber cartridge device, endothelial cells are grown under shear stress on the inner surface of the lumen of a hollow fiber and perivascular cells are grown on the outer surface of the fiber. Growing cells under continual stress more closely approximates the in vivo environment where blood passes over the endothelium in a blood vessel, and produces a cell monolayer closely resembling naturally occurring firmly adherent cell layers found in vivo in the lining of blood vessels. The endothelial cells may be transfected with a gene and the surface of the device may be pre-coated with extracellular matrix protein.

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