Bioactive 3D-Printed valve scaffold promoting valvular regeneration via immunomodulation and endothelialization
The in vivo performance of tissue-engineered heart valves remains constrained by a persistent early failure triad at the blood-material interface, namely thrombosis, unresolved inflammation, and slow endothelialization. Here, a bioinstructive multilayer valve scaffold is engineered to address these interfacial barriers through spatially integrated structural and biological functions. The scaffold comprises a digitally programmable 3D-printed framework, a silk fibroin wrapping layer, and a hydrogel biointerface incorporating Arg-Gly-Asp/GelMA adhesive cues together with H 2 S-releasing microgels. This layered design endows the construct with valve-relevant tensile properties while simultaneously programming the immune-endothelial microenvironment. The hydrogel biointerface promotes endothelial migration, proliferation, and angiogenic activity, whereas sustained H 2 S delivery biases macrophages toward a pro-resolving M2-like phenotype and suppresses inflammatory activation. Transcriptomic analysis further reveals coordinated upregulation of endothelial programs related to endothelial repair, migration, and proliferation, accompanied by attenuation of stress- and inflammation-associated responses. In vivo , the scaffold mitigates thromboinflammatory reactions, shows preliminary anti-calcification performance, and supports endothelialization under blood-contacting conditions. Together, this work establishes a layered bioactive engineering approach that converts a passive 3D-printed structural scaffold into a regenerative, hemocompatible, and immunoregulatory biofunctional valve scaffold. This strategy offers a promising design principle for the further development of regenerative valve scaffolds.
Authors
- Jiahui She
- Linlin Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5529-0971)
- Jianglin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0733-2097)
- Weihua Qiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6664-7075)
- Renyuan Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9607-878X)
- Nianguo Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5437-599X)
- Hongjun Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2980-1384)
- Xianzhen Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1272-0895)
- Zhiqiang Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3867-6607)
- Wenliang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4202-8637)
- Jiawei Shi
- Chao Xu
- Shuyu Wen
- Kun Yang
- Chuan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2640-2397)
Institutions
- Union Hospital (HK)
- Wuhan Textile University (CN)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Bioactive Materials
- Published
- 2026-07-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2026.07.021
- Primary Topic
- Electrospun Nanofibers in Biomedical Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00