Adhesion and growth of vascular smooth muscle cells in cultures on bioactive RGD peptide-carrying polylactides

Abstract

The surface of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) films deposited on glass coverslips was modified with poly(DL-lactide) (PDLLA), or 1:4 mixtures of PDLLA and PDLLA-b-PEO block copolymers, in which either none, 5% or 20% of the copolymer molecules carried a synthetic extracellular matrix-derived ligand for integrin adhesion receptors, the GRGDSG oligopeptide, attached to the end of the PEO chain. The materials, perspective for vascular tissue engineering, were seeded with rat aortic smooth muscle cells (11,000 cells/cm(2)) and the adhesion, spreading, DNA synthesis and proliferation of these cells was followed on inert and bioactive surfaces. In 24-h-old cultures in serum-supplemented media, the number of cells adhering to the PDLLA-b-PEO copolymer was almost eight times lower than that on the control PDLLA surface. On the surfaces containing 5% and 20% GRGDSG-PEO-b-PDLLA copolymer, the number of cells increased 6- and 3-fold respectively, compared to the PDLLA-b-PEO copolymer alone. On PDLLA-b-PEO copolymer alone, the cells were typically round and non-spread, whereas on GRGDSG-modified surfaces the cell spreading areas approached those found on PDLLA, reaching values of 991 microm(2) and 611 microm(2) for 5% and 20% GRGDSG respectively, compared to 958 microm(2) for PDLLA. The cells on GRGDSG-grafted copolymers were able to form vinculin-containing focal adhesion plaques, to synthesize DNA and even proliferate in a serum-free medium, which indicates specific binding to the GRGDSG sequences through their adhesion receptors.

Surface modification of electrospun poly(L-lactide-co-ɛ-caprolactone) fibrous meshes with a RGD peptide for the control of adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of the preosteoblastic cells

“…Increased adhesion of human skin fibroblasts, osteoblasts, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells by RGD-integrin binding has been reported. 16,21,41,42 Consistent with previous studies, our results indicate that the increase in cell adhesion observed when we switched hydrophobic PLCL to hydrophilic AAc-PLCL fibrous meshes may be due to non-specific interactions. Moreover, cell adhesion was maximized on the RGDAAc-PLCL due to the synergetic effect of non-specific interactions and the specific binding of ECM molecules to their receptors.…”

Improved Adhesion, Growth and Maturation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells on Polyethylene Grafted with Bioactive Molecules and Carbon Particles

“…In other studies, however, both PEG and BSA have often been reported to be non-adhesive for cells and have even been used for constructing inert cell non-adhesive surfaces (for a review, see [25]). The anti-adhesive action of PEG is based on its very high hydrophilia and the mobility of its chain, which hamper stable adsorption of the proteins that mediate cell adhesion.…”

Adhesion and Growth of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells on Nanostructured and Biofunctionalized Polyethylene

“…For example, in vascular tissue engineering, this means that the material should enable reconstruction of the tunica intima , formed by a confluent layer of endothelial cells, and also reconstruction of the tunica media , which contain vascular smooth muscle cells. For these purposes, advanced artificial materials should not just be passively tolerated by the cells, but should act as bioactive or biomimetic, which means that they induce the required cell responses in a controllable manner (for a review, see [8,9]).…”