New Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-butylacrylate) Copolymer Biointerfaces and Their Characteristic Influence on Cell Behavior In Vitro

Abstract

Designing and obtaining new synthetic smart biointerfaces with specific and controlled characteristics relevant for applications in biomedical and bioengineering domains represents one of the main challenges in these fields. In this work, Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) is used to obtain synthetic biointerfaces of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-butyl acrylate) p(NIPAM-BA) copolymer with different characteristics (i.e., roughness, porosity, wettability), and their effect on normal HEK 293 T and murine melanoma B16-F1 cells is studied. For this, the influence of various solvents (chloroform, dimethylsulfoxide, water) and fluence variation (250-450 mJ/cm2) on the morphological, roughness, wettability, and physico–chemical characteristics of the coatings are evaluated by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurements, Fourier-transform-IR spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Coatings obtained by the spin coating method are used for reference. No significant alteration in the chemistry of the surfaces is observed for the coatings obtained by both methods. All p(NIPAM-BA) coatings show hydrophilic character, with the exception of those obtained with chloroform at 250 mJ/cm2. The surface morphology is shown to depend on both solvent type and laser fluence and it ranges from smooth surfaces to rough and porous ones. Physico–chemical and biological analysis reveal that the MAPLE deposition method with fluences of 350-450 mJ/cm2 when using DMSO solvent is more appropriate for bioengineering applications due to the surface characteristics (i.e., pore presence) and to the good compatibility with normal cells and cytotoxicity against melanoma cells.

Hybrid bio-nanoporous peptide loaded-polymer platforms with anticancer and antibacterial activities

“…Also, the surface morphology analyses revealed the presence and uniform distribution of nanopores on the material surface. 22 …”

“…Preliminary studies on the copolymer coating optimization showed that the surface characteristics are highly dependent on solvent, laser fluence and target concentration. 22 Therefore, in this work, in order to obtain copolymeric layers with nanoporous interfaces, fixed conditions were used: 2% pNIPAM- co -BA in DMSO (in weight concentration), laser spot measured at the target level of 1 mm 2 , fluence 350 mJ cm −2 and 72k pulses. Solutions of 2% Mel and 2% MG in distilled water were filtered through 0.22 μm Millipore membranes were placed on the samples, allowing slow evaporation under the hood at a constant temperature of 20 °C.…”

“…19 Different pNIPAM-BA based formulations have been obtained and proposed as potential optical detection, drug delivery systems or as a promising substrate for cell sheet engineering. 20,21 A synthetic biointerface of pNIPAM-BA with moderate hydrophilic character, good biocompatibility and characteristics suitable to be used as a vehicle for biological active compounds' delivery obtained by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) was reported by Dumitrescu et al 22 With the view to obtain a more efficient biomaterial for medical applications, we have used nanoporous pNIPAM-co-BA coatings obtained by MAPLE upon loading with two cationic peptides belonging to the antimicrobial peptides family (AMPs), namely, melittin (Mel) and magainin (MG). Despite the main characteristic of those peptides of exhibiting antimicrobial activities, our purpose was to obtain a hybrid nanoporous bioplatform that can exhibit anticancer effect and a low level of toxicity on normal cells.…”

“…19 Different pNIPAM-BA based formulations have been obtained and proposed as potential optical detection, drug delivery systems or as a promising substrate for cell sheet engineering. 20,21 A synthetic biointerface of pNIPAM-BA with moderate hydrophilic character, good biocompatibility and characteristics suitable to be used as a vehicle for biological active compounds' delivery obtained by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) was reported by Dumitrescu et al 22…”

Mitigation of Cellular and Bacterial Adhesion on Laser Modified Poly (2-Methacryloyloxyethyl Phosphorylcholine)/Polydimethylsiloxane Surface

“…Previous reports showed that, by using MAPLE for physically immobilising a wide variety of compounds, surfaces coatings could be tailored in terms of thickness, roughness, and stability in an aqueous environment [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Even if exposure to UV or O 2 plasma can lead to the transition toward a hydrophilic PDMS interface, the recovery of its hydrophobicity occurs within hours or days, accompanied by changes or even cracks on the surface [ 25 ].…”