Abstract
Transparent, flexible, biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets were modified by bioactive polymer-fibronectin top layers for the attachment of cells and growth of muscle fibers. Towards this end, PET sheets were grafted with 4-(dimethylamino)phenyl (DMA) groups from the in situ generated diazonium cation precursor. The arylated sheets served as macro-hydrogen donors for benzophenone and the growth of poly(2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) top layer by surface-confined free radical photopolymerization. The PET-PHEMA sheets were further grafted with fibronectin (FBN) through the 1,1-carbonyldiimidazole coupling procedure. The bioactive PET-PHEMA-I-FBN was then employed as a platform for the attachment, proliferation and differentiation of eukaryotic cells which after a few days gave remarkable muscle fibers, of ~120 µm length and ~45 µm thickness. We demonstrate that PET-PHEMA yields a fast growth of cells followed by muscle fibers of excellent levels of differentiation compared to pristine PET or standard microscope glass slides. The positive effect is exacerbated by crosslinking PHEMA chains with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate at initial HEMA/EGDA concentration ratio = 9/1. This works conclusively shows that in situ generated diazonium salts provide aryl layers for the efficient UV-induced grafting of biocompatible coating that beneficially serve as platform for cell attachment and growth of muscle fibers.
Highlights
The development of flexible surfaces is essential to create soft spatial topologies that allow one to study mechanical strains on cells, or to graft cells into moving organs subjected to topological constrains, like muscles, for example [1,2,3]
HEMA was photopolymerized or cophotopolymerized with poly-ethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) using benzophenone as photosensitizer to yield poly(2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) or crosslinked PHEMA films on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (PET-DMA-PHEMA or PET-DEMA-PHEMA/PEGDA) which were further activated by CDI to obtain imidazole-functionalized PHEMA grafts Surfaces 2021, 4 FOR PEER REVIEW for the attachment of fibronectin
We investigate the propensity of the cells to proliferate and differentiate into myotubes on the bioactive PET sheets
Summary
The development of flexible surfaces is essential to create soft spatial topologies that allow one to study mechanical strains on cells, or to graft cells into moving organs subjected to topological constrains, like muscles, for example [1,2,3]. Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based tissue engineering strategies are already successfully employed clinically for the regeneration of a range of different tissues [9], including heart valves [10], trachea [11], muscles [12], tendons [13], and abdominal walls [14]. Successful clinical application of designed implants has been reported in cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and breast reconstructive surgery [15]. Eucaryotic cells that make up implants normally grow in multicellular organisms surrounded by a specific molecular environment, the extracellular matrix [16,17]. ECM is a dynamic and complex environment characterized by biophysical, mechanical and biochemical properties specific for each tissue. ECM is critically important for many cellular processes including growth, differentiation, survival, and morphogenesis [20,21]
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