Covalent modification of porous implants using extracellular matrix proteins to accelerate neovascularization.

Healing associated with many polymeric biomedical implants commonly involves the formation of an avascular fibrous capsule. The lack of either formation or persistence of blood vessels in formed fibrous capsules, as well as a lack of new blood vessels within porous polymeric implants, often results in poor performance of the implant. The current study evaluated the use of extracellular matrix protein modification of a commonly used biomedical implant material, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), as a mechanism to increase the neovascularization both within these porous implants and in tissue that forms in the peri-implant area.

Modifications of the fertilized egg surface following the cortical reaction in Limulus polyphemus L. as viewed with the scanning electron microscope.

In the development of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, the fertilized egg undergoes a complicated cleavage (Stages 1-3) resulting in blastoderm formation (Stage 4). Stage 1 involves intralecithal cleavage and consists of nine discrete surface modifications (events) which have been briefly described with light microscopy by Brown and Barnum ('83). Since in Stage 1 the cortical reaction (events 1-4) has already been examined with ultrastructural methods, the objectives of the present study were to examine with scanning electron microscopy: (1) the first two of three intermittent granulations (events 5 and 7), and (2) the associated events characterized by smooth surfaces (events 4, 6, and 8).