Hydrophilic PCU scaffolds prepared by grafting PEGMA and immobilizing gelatin to enhance cell adhesion and proliferation.

Gelatin contains many functional motifs which can modulate cell specific adhesion, so we modified polycarbonate urethane (PCU) scaffold surface by immobilization of gelatin. PCU-g-gelatin scaffolds were prepared by direct immobilizing gelatins onto the surface of aminated PCU scaffolds. To increase the immobilization amount of gelatin, poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) was grafted onto PCU scaffolds by surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Then, following amination and immobilization, PCU-g-PEGMA-g-gelatin scaffolds were obtained. Both modified scaffolds were characterized by chemical and biological methods. After immobilization of gelatin, the microfiber surface became rough, but the original morphology of scaffolds was maintained successfully. PCU-g-PEGMA-g-gelatin scaffolds were more hydrophilic than PCU-g-gelatin scaffolds. Because hydrophilic PEGMA and gelatin were grafted and immobilized onto the surface, the PCU-g-PEGMA-g-gelatin scaffolds showed low platelet adhesion, perfect anti-hemolytic activity and excellent cell growth and proliferation capacity. It could be envisioned that PCU-g-PEGMA-g-gelatin scaffolds might have potential applications in tissue engineering artificial scaffolds.