Electrospun biocompatible stent with antibacterial property from shape memory polyurethane/gallic acid

The synthetic vascular graft infection (SVGI) could cause a high mortality rate, that developing antibacterial vascular stents to prevent SVGI is highly demanded. Herein, we integrated shape memory polyurethane (PU) and gallic acid (GA) to obtain a small caliber scaffold with sufficient mechanical support through electrostatic spinning technology. The formation of hydrogen bonds between GA and PU facilitates the enhancement of the mechanical properties of PU/GA. The biocompatibility and antibacterial properties of the scaffolds were confirmed by using human endothelial cells in in-vitro experiments and by co-culturing with bacteria that cause common post-operative stent infections. The electrospun porous structure and the antimicrobial activity of GA allow PU/GA to exhibit a dose-dependency of cell viability, hemolysis, and antibacterial, the adding amount of GA with 2% presented the optimal properties. The shape memory effects of PU with the suitable transition temperature enable the electrospun stent to be able to reduce the size for deployment and recovery of the fabricated shape in a gentle environment. This work provides an efficient method for fabricating PU-based antibacterial scaffolds by electrospinning.