title: Surface functionalization of polycaprolactone films via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization for covalently coupling cell-adhesive biomolecules.
abstract: The ability to manipulate and control the surface properties, without altering the substrate properties, is of crucial importance in the designing of biomedical materials. In this work, surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is employed to tailor the functionality of polycaprolactone (PCL) film surfaces in a well-controlled manner. Functional polymer brushes of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) were prepared via surface-initiated ATRPs from the PCL film surfaces. Kinetics study revealed that the chain growth from the PCL films was consistent with a controlled process. The dense and reactive epoxide groups of the grafted P(GMA) brushes were used for the direct coupling of cell-adhesive collagen and Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser (RGDS) peptides to improve the cell-adhesion properties of the PCL film surface. These modified surfaces were evaluated by culturing of a cell line, 3T3 fibroblasts. The cell attachment and proliferation were improved remarkably on the collagen (or RGDS) functionalized PCL film surfaces. The adhesion results also indicated that the collagen-coupled PCL film surface is better for the cell-adhesion process. With the versatility of surface-initiated ATRP and the good biocompatibility nature of biomolecules, the PCL films with desirable surface functionalities can be precisely tailored to cater to various biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Materials Science & Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China. xufj@mail.buct.edu.cn
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Z H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D011091:Polyesters; C016240:polycaprolactone; D003094:Collagen; C046617:arginyl-glycyl-aspartyl-serine