Polymer brush: a promising grafting approach to scaffolds for tissue engineering

Abstract

Polymer brush is a soft material unit tethered covalently on the surface of scaffolds. It can induce functional and structural modification of a substrate’s properties. Such surface coating approach has attracted special attentions in the fields of stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine due to facile fabrication, usability of various polymers, extracellular matrix (ECM)-like structural features, and in vivo stability. Here, we summarized polymer brush-based grafting approaches comparing self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-based coating method, in addition to physico-chemical characterization techniques for surfaces such as wettability, stiffness/elasticity, roughness, and chemical composition that can affect cell adhesion, differentiation, and proliferation. We also reviewed recent advancements in cell biological applications of polymer brushes by focusing on stem cell differentiation and 3D supports/implants for tissue formation. Understanding cell behaviors on polymer brushes in the scale of nanometer length can contribute to systematic understandings of cellular responses at the interface of polymers and scaffolds and their simultaneous effects on cell behaviors for promising platform designs.

Polymer- and Hybrid-Based Biomaterials for Interstitial, Connective, Vascular, Nerve, Visceral and Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering

“…To distinguish between, for example planar LbL layers, the density of polymers constituting polymer brushes is said to the higher than the gyration radius of polymers. Application in tissue engineering can be also thought with polymer brushes [109]. Control of rigidity, reversible physico-chemical properties and stimuli-responsiveness [109] are noted as some distinct properties of polymer brushes making them unique materials in tissue engineering.…”

Interactions at engineered graft–tissue interfaces: A review

“…1 However, other unexpected reactions may be concurrent around the transplant sites depending on the implants' compositions, decompositions, or their surface chemistries. 2 Over the years, various techniques have been used in the development of a desirable implant for tissue regeneration, such as chemical patterning, 3 cell targeting, 4–6 decellularization, 7–18 polymer brush, 19 and surface coating. 20,21 At the same time, many medical technologies ranging from electrical sensors to drug delivery to medical implants 22–24 have also been utilized to prompt the progression of this area.…”

Multilayer fabrication of unobtrusive poly(dimethylsiloxane) nanobrush for tunable cell adhesion

“…The polymer brush is particularly useful because it precisely introduces the designed chemical functionality to covalently grafted, high-density, and stable polymer chains while maintaining the innate properties of the scaffold substrates 7–10 . In addition, accurately controlled grafting density and chain length allow the transition of its micro-architectures and physical properties which cause unexpected cellular responses and bioactive features 11,12 .…”

“…Changing the thickness of the grafted polymer to a few nanometer scales can lead to unanticipated phenomena due to its physical interaction with the substrate materials 11 . Interesting physical eventuation was observed in other materials in nanoscale.…”