Functional polymer thin films by initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) and their film application to tissue engineering

Abstract

Functional polymer thin films is applied to much of modern science and technology community. Our group can easily fabricate functional polymer films via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) method.

One study is related to “a vapor deposited thermo-responsive polymer film, poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (pNVCL) for cell sheet engineering”. Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), pNVCL, is a thermo-responsive polymer. pNVCL is known to be nontoxic, water soluble, and biocompatible. Here, pNVCL was synthesized successfully by use of a vapor-phase process, initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed that a radical polymerization took place from N-vinylcaprolactam (NVCL) monomer, without damaging the functional caprolactam ring. A sharp lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition was observed at 31 oC from the iCVD pNVCL film. Thermo-responsive intelligent surfaces exhibited a hydrophilic/hydrophobic alteration with external temperature change, which, enabled a thermally modulated attachment and detachment with cells. The advantage of this system is that cells cultured on such thermo-responsive surfaces could be recovered as a cell sheet, simply by lowering the temperature without conventional enzymatic treatment.

Another study is related to “peptide immobilized iCVD pGMA surface as a cell culture substrate and control of hMSC’s differentiaion into osteogenic lineages”. Cell-substrate interactions are crucial for controlling diverse cellular behaviors. In particular, surface topographical effects of culture substrate are known to modulate adhesion, alignment, proliferation, and differentiation of stem cells. In this study, we investigated the effects of nanoscale topographies on the behaviors of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Human adipose tissue-derived MSCs were cultured on various shapes of polyurethane acrylate (PUA) nanopatterned surfaces grafted with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (pGMA) by init...