Abstract
Medical device implants are drawing increasing amounts of interest from modern medical practitioners. However, this attention is not evenly spread across all such devices; most of these implantable devices can cause adverse reactions such as inflammation, fibrosis, thrombosis, and infection. In this work, the biocompatibility of silicone rubber (SR) was improved through carbon (C) ion implantation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed that these newly generated carbon-implanted silicone rubbers (C-SRs) had large, irregular peaks and deep valleys on their surfaces. The water contact angle of the SR surface decreased significantly after C ion implantation. C ion implantation also changed the surface charge distribution, silicone oxygen rate, and chemical-element distribution of SR to favor cell attachment. The dermal fibroblasts cultured on the surface C-SR grew faster and showed more typical fibroblastic shapes. The expression levels of major adhesion proteins, including talin-1, zyxin, and vinculin, were significantly higher in dermal fibroblasts cultured on C-SR coated plates than in dermal fibroblasts cultured on SR. Those same dermal fibroblasts on C-SRs showed more pronounced adhesion and migration abilities. Osteopontin (OPN), a critical extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, was up-regulated and secreted from dermal fibroblasts cultured on C-SR. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity was also increased. These cells were highly mobile and were able to adhere to surfaces, but these abilities were inhibited by the monoclonal antibody against OPN, or by shRNA-mediated MMP-9 knockdown. Together, these results suggest that C ion implantation significantly improves SR biocompatibility, and that OPN is important to promote cell adhesion to the C-SR surface.
Highlights
Bio-implant materials are widely used in reconstructing and repairing human organs damaged by injuries or degradation [1]
The distinct X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns among Silicone rubber (SR) and carbonimplanted silicone rubbers (C-SRs), or among three C-SRs may be attributable to different amount of C ion implantation
The spectrums for C-SRs are similar to that for pristine SR (Figure 1E). These results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), XRD and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicate that the C ion implantation may interrupt the silicon bonds, but the interaction between C ion and SR is weak
Summary
Bio-implant materials are widely used in reconstructing and repairing human organs damaged by injuries or degradation [1]. Silicone rubber (SR)-based materials have been used for many years, as they have excellent physiology inertia, high adsorption properties, high corrosion resistance, good chemical stability and high mechanical strength [2,3]. The intrinsically hydrophobic nature of SR surface makes cell adhesion almost impossible, causing problems like fibrous capsules, contracture formation, and displacement during long-term usage [4,5,6]. Poor cell adhesion on its surface allows a gap to form between the SR implant and surrounding tissues, this can lead to bacterial invasion [7]
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