Behaviour of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells on Amine Plasma-Coated Materials with Various Chemical Structures and Morphologies

Abstract

Amine-coated biodegradable materials based on synthetic polymers have a great potential for tissue remodeling and regeneration because of their excellent processability and bioactivity. In the present study, we have investigated the influence of various chemical compositions of amine plasma polymer (PP) coatings and the influence of the substrate morphology, represented by polystyrene culture dishes and polycaprolactone nanofibers (PCL NFs), on the behavior of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Although all amine-PP coatings improved the initial adhesion of VSMCs, 7-day long cultivation revealed a clear preference for the coating containing about 15 at.% of nitrogen (CPA-33). The CPA-33 coating demonstrated the ideal combination of good water stability, a sufficient amine group content, and favorable surface wettability and morphology. The nanostructured morphology of amine-PP-coated PCL NFs successfully slowed the proliferation rate of VSMCs, which is essential in preventing restenosis of vascular replacements in vivo. At the same time, CPA-33-coated PCL NFs supported the continuous proliferation of VSMCs during 7-day long cultivation, with no significant increase in cytokine secretion by RAW 264.7 macrophages. The CPA-33 coating deposited on biodegradable PCL NFs therefore seems to be a promising material for manufacturing small-diameter vascular grafts, which are still lacking on the current market.

Enhanced Adhesion of Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofibers to Plasma-Modified Polypropylene Fabric

“…The successful coating by the amine-pp film was confirmed by the presence of nitrogen (N/C ratio 0.14, corresponding to 9.3 at.% of nitrogen) on the fabric after the deposition ( Figure 4 a) because nitrogen is not part of the original fabric. Moreover, there is a good agreement between the shape and fitting of C 1s peak and the already published amine pp results [ 50 , 53 ]. The C 1s high-resolution peak of amine pp was composed of five components corresponding to the following groups: aliphatic hydrocarbon groups (CH , C–C) at 285.0 eV, amino groups bonded to carbon (C–NH ) at 285.9 eV, imine or nitrile groups (C=N/C≡N) at 286.7 eV, aldehyde/ketone or amide groups (C=O/N–C=O/N–C–O) at 287.9 eV, and ester/carboxyl groups (C(O)OR) at 288.9 eV ( Figure 5 b).…”

“…The full width at a half maximum was between 0.9–1.3 eV for all components. The values of the binding energies for various carbon environments were taken from the literature [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

Insight into peculiar adhesion of cells to plasma‐chemically prepared multifunctional “amino‐glue” surfaces

“…In the case of amine PPs, the C1s peak was fitted with a sum of five components: aliphatic hydrocarbon groups (CH x , C-C) at 285.0 eV, amino groups bonded to carbon (C-NH x ) at 285.9 eV, imine or nitrile groups (C═N/ C≡N) at 286.7 eV, aldehydes/ketones or amide groups (C═O/ N-C═O/N-C-O) at 287.9 eV, and carboxyl/ester groups (C (O)OR) at 288.9 eV. [27] The quantification of primary amino groups was performed by 4-trifluoromethyl benzaldehyde (TFBA, purity 98%, Sigma Aldrich) derivatization. [28,29] Due to the high sensitivity of TFBA to moisture and oxygen, the reaction was carried out in an Ar atmosphere.…”

Amine-Rich Coatings to Potentially Promote Cell Adhesion, Proliferation and Differentiation, and Reduce Microbial Colonization: Strategies for Generation and Characterization

“…In fact, human skin fibroblasts adhered and spread well on the modified surface [16]. Recently, Nemcakova et al studied the behavior of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) on amine-rich coatings with different plasma parameters and substrates [28]. The initial adhesion of VSMCs on all amine coated-polystyrene (PS) and polycaprolactone nanofibers (PCL NFs) was improved for the different plasma powers tested.…”

“…However, the proliferation and metabolic activity of VSMCs, after 7 days in culture, were higher with the coating made at a power of 33 W due to better properties such as stability, -NH 2 content, and wettability. The immunogenicity of such coatings was also investigated with the evaluation of inflammatory markers (TNF-α and IL-1β) and showed no increase in their expression [28]. The mechanism of cell adhesion to nitrogen-rich coatings has been investigated by Girard-Lauriault et al [34,35].…”