Study of the effects of nanostructuring of polymer surfaces on cellular proliferation and alignment

Abstract

Synthetic bioabsorbable polymers have been increasingly investigated as an alternative

material for cardiovascular applications, attributed to their bioabsorbable and

mechanical properties. However endothelialization on these bioabsorbable polymers

appears difficult due to their poor cell affinity and their surface roughness. This

research project seeks to study how two different surface modification techniques,

namely electron beam irradiation (ebeam) with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment

and electron beam writing (EBW), have an effect on endothelial cell-surface

interaction and subsequent cell growth. The substrate material candidates chosen in

this study are poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) co-polymer and poly(L-lactic acid)

(PLLA) polymer, because of their prevalent use as blood contacting devices in

cardiovascular applications.

In this work, randomized pattern obtained using electron beam irradiation with sodium

hydroxide treatment (NaOH), was compared against a nano-dimensional groove

pattern created by electron beam writing (EBW) for their influences on endothelial cell

proliferation and alignment on its films.