Endothelialization of polyurethanes: Surface silanization and immobilization of REDV peptide

The paper presents method for chemical immobilization of arginine-glutamic acid-aspartic acid-valine (REDV) peptide on polyurethane surface. The peptide has been covalently bonded using silanes as a spacer molecules. The aim of this work was to investigate the proposed modification process and assess its biological effectiveness, especially in contact with blood and endothelial cells. Physicochemical properties were examined in terms of wettability, atomic composition and density of introduced functional groups and peptide molecules. Experiments with blood showed that material coating reduced number of surface-adhered platelets and fibrinogen molecules. In contrast to polyurethane (PU), there were no blood components deposited on REDV-modified materials (PU-REDV); fibrinogen adsorption on PU-REDV surface has been strongly reduced compared to PU. Analysis of cell adhesion after 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 days of culture showed a significant increase of the cell-coated area on PU-REDV compared to PU. However, an intense cell growth appeared also on the control surface modified without the addition of REDV. Thus, the positive effect of REDV peptide on the adhesion of HUVEC could not be unequivocally confirmed.