Nanocarbon Supporting Porous Porphyrin-Ru-Functionalized Vascular Grafts for Antioxidative Stress, Anti-inflammation, and Prorepair of Blood Vessel Injury

Abstract

Vascular grafts are commonly used to treat acute injuries and chronic atherosclerotic diseases of the vasculature. However, the pathological environment of injured vessels is characterized by oxidative stress and severe inflammatory flares, which usually lead to insufficient vascular regeneration and poor pathological remodeling, with far from satisfactory graft results. Here, we innovatively engineered a nanocarbon supporting porous Ru-porphyrin-based nanobiocatalyst functionalized vascular graft (SPPorRu@PCL) via electrospinning technology. Our studies demonstrate that the SPPorRu@PCL has ultrafast and broad-spectrum reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability due to the highly active π-conjugated Ru–N catalytic site, π–π stacking effect, and porous structure of loaded SPPorRu, which synergistically enhances its electron transfer ability and catalytic kinetics. Strikingly, in vitro cellular experiments demonstrate that the SPPorRu@PCL is effective in alleviating oxidative stress, reducing damage of DNA and mitochondrial, and promoting cell adhesion for human umbilical vein endothelial cells in a high-ROS environment. Implantation of SPPorRu@PCL in vascular-injured rats further demonstrates its superior biocompatibility, anti-inflammatory and provascular repair capabilities. This work provides important insights into the application of the porous nanocarbon and the π-conjugated porphyrin-based Ru–N coordination nanobiocatalyst assembled on nanocarbons in catalytically scavenging ROS and offers new strategies to design high-performance artificial antioxidant functionalized vascular grafts for the treatment of blood vessel injury diseases.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Artificial antioxidase / Nanobiocatalyst / Reactive oxygen species / Vascular graft / Anti-inflammation

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(82371976)

Post-Doctor Research Project, West China Hospital, Sichuan University(2024HXBH051)

China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(2024M762250)

Sichuan Science and Technology Program(2024YFHZ0271)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Donghua University, Shanghai, China