title: Initiated chemical vapor deposition of thermoresponsive poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) thin films for cell sheet engineering.
abstract: Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) is a thermoresponsive polymer known to be nontoxic, water soluble and biocompatible. Here, PNVCL homopolymer was successfully synthesized for the first time by use of a one-step vapor-phase process, termed initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed that radical polymerization took place from N-vinylcaprolactam monomers without damaging the functional caprolactam ring. A sharp lower critical solution temperature transition was observed at 31°C from the iCVD poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PNVCL) film. The thermoresponsive PNVCL surface exhibited a hydrophilic/hydrophobic alteration with external temperature change, which enabled the thermally modulated attachment and detachment of cells. The conformal coverage of PNVCL film on various substrates with complex topography, including fabrics and nanopatterns, was successfully demonstrated, which can further be utilized to fabricate cell sheets with aligned cell morphology. The advantage of this system is that cells cultured on such thermoresponsive surfaces could be recovered as an intact cell sheet by simply lowering the temperature, eliminating the need for conventional enzymatic treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and KI for NanoCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Seungjung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jae Bem
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Deok-Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung Gap
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Im
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D002209:Caprolactam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology*; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005740:Gases; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011108:Polymers; C086861:poly-N-vinylcaprolactam; D002209:Caprolactam