Effect of chitosan membrane surface modification via plasma induced polymerization on the adhesion of osteoblast-like cells

Abstract

The surface of solvent cast chitosan membranes was modified using a two-step procedure. Oxygen plasma treatment was used at the first activation step followed by vinyl monomer graft polymerization. Two monomers were used in order to compare the influence of different functional groups on cell adhesion and proliferation; acrylic acid (AA) was used to introduce carboxyl groups and vinyl sulfonic acid (VSA) was used as a source of sulfonic groups. The surface chemistry/energy changes were characterized by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), and contact angle measurements. Additionally, alterations in the surface morphology were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XPS analyses confirmed the polymer grafting on the surface; an S 2s peak appears in the VSA survey spectrum and an O-CLO peak emerges in the C 1s high resolution spectrum after AA grafting. Moreover, contact angle measurements showed an increment in the values of the surface energy polar and Lewis base components for all treated samples, confirming the introduction of additional polar groups by the modification processes. FTIR-ATR spectra showed no significant difference between treated and original materials. These results confirmed that only the very top (a few angstroms) surface layer, but not the bulk of the material, was modified. The effect of modification on the adhesion and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells was studied on a preliminary basis. Direct contact tests were performed using a human osteosarcoma cell line (SaOs-2). Cell morphology (optical microscopy and SEM) and cell viability (MTS test) were evaluated for untreated and surface modified membranes. The results revealed that both plasma treatment, and the presence of sulfonic groups on the surface of chitosan membranes, improve SaOs-2 adhesion and proliferation when compared to untreated or AA-grafted membranes. This effect was strongly related to the polar and Lewis basic components of the total surface energy.

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) surface‐grafted chitosan membranes as a new substrate for cell sheet engineering and manipulation

“…The few viable cells adhered on the CTS sample surface after 10 days of culture did not present the typical fibroblast-like morphology, being quite round and sparsely distributed. The poor cell adhesion and proliferation on chitosan membranes have been previously reported (Lopez-Perez et al, 2007;Zhu et al, 2005). The iPrOH50 membranes presented very similar results (not shown).…”

“…As our aim is to be able to create cell sheets, which can be harvested by simply lowering the temperature, cell confluence is a critical parameter to achieve. In one of our previous works (Lopez-Perez et al, 2007), plasma treatment was very effective on improving the viability and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells. It is wellknown that the surface energy has a striking effect on the cell behavior.…”

“…In one of our previous works (Lopez-Perez et al, 2007), plasma treatment of chitosan membranes was very effective on improving the viability and proliferation of osteoblastlike cells. In this sense, the surface of some chitosan membranes was modified by plasma treatment according to that procedure (Lopez-Perez et al, 2007), before PNIPAAm grafting.…”

“…In this sense, the surface of some chitosan membranes was modified by plasma treatment according to that procedure (Lopez-Perez et al, 2007), before PNIPAAm grafting. Briefly, the plasma treatment was performed using a radio frequency (13.56 MHz) Plasma Prep5 equipment from Gala Instrument.…”

Photosensitive chitosan to control cell attachment

“…The identities of different surfaces were further confirmed by water contact angle data as it has been shown that surface wettability is directly related to the surface energy and it is a useful parameter to correlate with cell-biomaterial interactions on the interface [33,34]. As demonstrated in Table 1, both advancing and receding water contact angles change after each step of chemical reaction and photoactivation, suggesting possible surface composition changes.…”