Wet-chemical approach for the cell-adhesive modification of polytetrafluoroethylene

Abstract

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a frequently utilized polymer for the fabrication of synthetic vascular grafts, was surface-modified by means of a wet-chemical process. The inherently non-cell-adhesive polymer does not support cellular attachment, a prerequisite for the endothelialization of luminal surface grafts in small diameter applications. To impart the material with cell-adhesive properties a treatment with sodium-naphthalene provided a basis for the subsequent immobilization of the adhesion promoting RGD-peptide using a hydroxy- and amine-reactive crosslinker. Successful conjugation was shown with cell culture experiments which demonstrated excellent endothelial cell growth on the modified surfaces.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) surface modification of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for control of biocompatibility

“…Nano-sized structures of the order of dimension of the hydrodynamic radii of proteins (1-5 nm) would also be expected have an influence on cell attachment. In contrast to surface modification of PTFE by other groups, EUV surface modification increased the WCA of the samples [5,7,16,38]. However, another group also observed increased hydrophobicity of PTFE samples, as found in this study, on r.f.…”

“…The surfaces with nanometer grooves may provide contact guidance, hence the cell movement could be aligned by a certain direction provided by foreign material. Enhanced cell attachment and strong cell adhesion by PTFE surface modification has been reported by various groups [5,7,16,38]. However EUV surface modification is a single step technique that can be performed easily by a compact laboratory scale tool.…”

“…An endothelial layer is required to form on the vascular implant surface to inhibit the blood clot formation. However due to lack of cell attachment, endothelialization fails to occur [5]. Therefore for vascular prosthesis, improved cell adhesion of PTFE would be advantageous.…”

“…Therefore it is quite difficult to tune its surface properties [5][6][7][8]. Since tuning of surface properties would be difficult at the fabrication stage of polymers, various surface modification techniques are currently being employed or developed [4,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

Morphological Effects on Expression of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF15), a Marker of Metastasis

“…To examine if CTCs could affect serum GDF15 levels, LNCaP or PC3 cells were introduced as a suspension into a diffusion chamber made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). PTFE was chosen as the material of choice as cells attach poorly to PTFE without prior chemical modifications (Chen et al, 2003; Gabriel et al, 2011). 2 × 10 5 LNCaP or PC3 cells injected into these chambers secreted GDF15 to a similar level attained by growing on PHEMA-coated dishes (Fig.…”