Bioactive plasma-polymerized bipolar films for enhanced endothelial cell mobility.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Surface Chemistry
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Developing bio-active interface materials is crucial for biomedical applications.
• Understanding surface properties like polarity and energy influences cellular interactions.
• Nanolayered structures offer tunable surface characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a facile approach for creating highly bio-active interface materials.
• To investigate the relationship between polar entities at nanolayer interfaces and surface properties.
• To evaluate the impact of these modified surfaces on endothelial cell (EC) behavior.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of multistack bipolar films using PPAam and PPAac nanolayers.
• X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis to identify polar entities at interfaces.
• Assessment of surface energy, hydrophilicity, and dipolar orientation polarizability.
• In vitro evaluation of EC attachment, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and coverage.

Main Results:

• XPS confirmed the presence of polar entities at the PPAam/PPAac nanolayer interfaces.
• These entities induced significant dipolar orientation polarizability and charge redistribution.
• A remarkable increase in polar surface energy and hydrophilicity was observed.
• Bipolar films, especially those with surface amine groups, demonstrated strongly enhanced EC mobility.
• Significant improvements in EC attachment, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and coverage were recorded.

Conclusions:

• The developed facile approach yields highly bio-active interface materials.
• Surface polarity and enhanced hydrophilicity are key factors for improved cellular interactions.
• These bipolar films show great potential as vascular implant materials.
• Applications in tissue engineering as coating materials are also promising.