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Degradable polyester scaffolds with controlled surface chemistry combining minimal protein adsorption with specific bioactivation

Nature Materials volume 10, pages 67–73 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Advanced biomaterials and scaffolds for tissue engineering place high demands on materials and exceed the passive biocompatibility requirements previously considered acceptable for biomedical implants1,2,3,4. Together with degradability, the activation of specific cell–material interactions and a three-dimensional environment that mimics the extracellular matrix are core challenges and prerequisites for the organization of living cells to functional tissue5. Moreover, although bioactive signalling combined with minimization of non-specific protein adsorption is an advanced modification technique for flat surfaces6, it is usually not accomplished for three-dimensional fibrous scaffolds used in tissue engineering. Here, we present a one-step preparation of fully synthetic, bioactive and degradable extracellular matrix-mimetic scaffolds by electrospinning, using poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) as the matrix polymer. Addition of a functional, amphiphilic macromolecule based on star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide) transforms current biomedically used degradable polyesters into hydrophilic fibres, which causes the suppression of non-specific protein adsorption on the fibres’ surface. The subsequent covalent attachment of cell-adhesion-mediating peptides to the hydrophilic fibres promotes specific bioactivation and enables adhesion of cells through exclusive recognition of the immobilized binding motifs. This approach permits synthetic materials to directly control cell behaviour, for example, resembling the binding of cells to fibronectin immobilized on collagen fibres in the extracellular matrix of connective tissue.

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Figure 1: A schematic diagram of fibre chemistry.
Figure 2: Protein adsorption on electrospun fibres.
Figure 3: Cell adhesion on electrospun fibres.
Figure 4: Fibroblast adhesion on RGDS-modified fibres.
Figure 5: Quantification of cell adhesion on electrospun fibres.

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Acknowledgements

J. Salber is acknowledged for support with the cell culture experiments. The authors want to thank M. Winnick for discussions and proofreading of the manuscript. The authors thank J. M. Baron and Y. Marquardt (Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Germany) and S. Neuß-Stein (Department of Pathology, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Germany) for providing human dermal fibroblasts and human mesenchymal stem cells, respectively. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Graduiertenkolleg 1035 ‘Biointerface’).

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Author notes

  1. Dirk Grafahrend, Karl-Heinz Heffels and Meike V. Beer: These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DWI e.V. and Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 8, D-52056 Aachen, Germany

    Dirk Grafahrend, Karl-Heinz Heffels, Meike V. Beer, Peter Gasteier, Martin Möller & Jürgen Groll

  2. Department of Surgery, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany

    Gabriele Boehm

  3. Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1954 Huashan Lu, Shanghai 200030, China

    Paul D. Dalton

  4. Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Ave., Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia

    Paul D. Dalton

  5. Department and Chair of Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry, University Hospital Würzburg, Pleicherwall 2, 97070 Würzburg, Germany

    Jürgen Groll

Authors
  1. Dirk Grafahrend
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  2. Karl-Heinz Heffels
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  4. Peter Gasteier
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  5. Martin Möller
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  6. Gabriele Boehm
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  7. Paul D. Dalton
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  8. Jürgen Groll
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Contributions

D.G., K-H.H. and J.G. conceived and designed the electrospinning approach and experiments; M.V.B. and J.G. conceived and designed the in vitro experiments. D.G., K-H.H. and P.G. carried out the electrospinning experiments and material characterization; M.V.B. carried out and analysed the in vitro experiments; G.B. conceived, carried out and analysed the in vivo experiments. D.G., K-H.H., M.V.B., G.B., M.M., P.D.D. and J.G. analysed the data; D.G., K-H.H., M.V.B., G.B., P.D.D. and J.G. contributed to writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Jürgen Groll.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Grafahrend, D., Heffels, KH., Beer, M. et al. Degradable polyester scaffolds with controlled surface chemistry combining minimal protein adsorption with specific bioactivation. Nature Mater 10, 67–73 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2904

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