Chen Yin, Pidhatika Bidhari, von Erlach Thomas, Konradi Rupert, Textor Marcus, Hall Heike, Lühmann Tessa
BioInterface Group, Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
Cells and Biomaterials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
Biointerphases. 2014 Sep;9(3):031003. doi: 10.1116/1.4878461.
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has been the most frequently reported and commercially used polymer for surface coatings to convey nonfouling properties. PEGylated surfaces are known to exhibit limited chemical stability, particularly due to oxidative degradation, which limits long-term applications. In view of excellent anti-adhesive properties in the brush conformation and resistance to oxidative degradation, poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline) (PMOXA) has been proposed recently as an alternative to PEG. In this study, the authors systematically compare the (bio)chemical stability of PEG- and PMOXA-based polymer brush monolayer thin films when exposed to cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs). To this end, the authors used cell-adhesive protein micropatterns in a background of the nonfouling PEG and PMOXA brushes, respectively, and monitored the outgrowth of HUVECs and HFFs for up to 21 days and 1.5 months. Our results demonstrate that cellular micropatterns spaced by PMOXA brushes are significantly more stable under serum containing cell culture conditions in terms of confinement of cells to the adhesive patterns, when compared to corresponding micropatterns generated by PEG brushes. Moreover, homogeneous PEG and PMOXA-based brush monolayers on Nb2O5 surfaces were investigated after immersion in endothelial cell medium using ellipsometry and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.
聚乙二醇（PEG）是用于表面涂层以赋予防污性能的最常被报道且商业应用的聚合物。已知聚乙二醇化表面具有有限的化学稳定性，尤其是由于氧化降解，这限制了其长期应用。鉴于聚（2-甲基-2-恶唑啉）（PMOXA）在刷状构象中具有优异的抗粘附性能且耐氧化降解，最近已被提议作为聚乙二醇的替代品。在本研究中，作者系统地比较了基于聚乙二醇和聚（2-甲基-2-恶唑啉）的聚合物刷单层薄膜在暴露于人类脐静脉内皮细胞（HUVECs）和人类包皮成纤维细胞（HFFs）培养物时的（生物）化学稳定性。为此，作者分别在防污的聚乙二醇和聚（2-甲基-2-恶唑啉）刷背景下使用细胞粘附蛋白微图案，并监测人类脐静脉内皮细胞和人类包皮成纤维细胞的生长长达21天和1.5个月。我们的结果表明，与由聚乙二醇刷产生的相应微图案相比，在含血清的细胞培养条件下，由聚（2-甲基-2-恶唑啉）刷隔开的细胞微图案在将细胞限制在粘附图案方面明显更稳定。此外，使用椭偏仪和X射线光电子能谱研究了在浸入内皮细胞培养基后，氧化铌表面上基于聚乙二醇和聚（2-甲基-2-恶唑啉）的均匀刷单层。
