Surface Modification of Biodegradable Poly(L‐Lactic Acid) by Argon Plasma: Fibroblasts and Keratinocytes in the Spotlight

Abstract

Poly(L-lactic acid) [PLLA] is a biodegradable polymer of growing importance for applications in tissue engineering. This work deals with PLLA tuned by Ar plasma treatment (3 W) with the aim to enhance its wettability and cytocompatibility. Changes in surface properties of PLLA caused by plasma treatment were studied in relation to adhesion, proliferation, and metabolic activity of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) in vitro. Plasma treatment of PLLA significantly improved adhesion and proliferation of both cell lines when compared to pristine PLLA. Changes in expression of adhesion molecules, talin 1 and vinculin, were also examined. The amount of both proteins in cells cultivated on modified PLLA matrices was lower than in cells grown on pristine PLLA after 24 h of incubation.

Plasma activated perfluoroethylenepropylene for cytocompatibility enhancement

“…Viability of HaCaT cells growing on individual FEP samples was determined as in [17] using WST-1 assay based on transformation of WST-1 reagent into formazan by cellular oxidoreductases.…”

“…Plasma treatment was applied to PEEK [15], polyethylene [16] or PLLA [17]. The influence of changes of altered physico-chemical properties either with plasma itself [18,19] or consequently due to grafting procedures or heat treatment was studied in detail [20][21][22].…”

Enhanced adherence of mouse fibroblast and vascular cells to plasma modified polyethylene

“…Cells were fixed and stained similarly as described in Ref [30,31]. VSMCs and L929 cells were washed with PBS and fixed with 4% formaldehyde (Thermo Scientific, USA) in PBS (37°C, 20 min).…”

Surface Modification by Low Temperature Plasma: Sterilization of Biodegradable Materials

“…In spite of vast knowledge in the fields of both the modification of a surface layer of polymeric materials by plasma and the methods for sterilization of plastic products, the biocidal effects of the low temperature plasma being achieved are often unsatisfactory. They depend on the kind of microorganisms as well as on experimental parameters that have to be chosen and are not fully recognized .…”

“…Some microorganisms produce resting spores (structures enabling survival under unfavorable conditions) that are resistant to various chemical or physical factors, e.g., disinfection agents, high temperature, and freezing. [14] In spite of vast knowledge in the fields of both the modification of a surface layer of polymeric materials by plasma [36][37][38][39][40] and the methods for sterilization of plastic products, the biocidal effects of the low temperature plasma being achieved are often unsatisfactory. They depend on the kind of microorganisms as well as on experimental parameters that have to be chosen and are not fully recognized.…”