Coating of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Thin Films on Nanofibrous Scaffolds to Improve Cell Adhesion

The adhesion of L929 cells to poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers was successfully improved via coating with polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films (PEMs), which enhanced the potential of this material as a scaffold in tissue engineering applications. With the electrostatic self-assembly technique, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS) were formed as four-bilayer PEMs on electrospun PCL nanofiber mats. Because PDADMAC and PSS are strong polyelectrolytes, they provided stable films with good adhesion on the fibers within a wide pH range suitable for the subsequent processes and conditions. PDADMAC and gelatin were also constructed as four-bilayer PEMs on top of the PDADMAC- and PSS-coated nanofibers with the expectation that the gelatin would improve the cell adhesion. L929 cells from mouse fibroblasts were then seeded on both uncoated and coated scaffolds to study the cytocompatibility and in vitro cell behavior. It was revealed by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay that both the uncoated and coated nanofiber mats were nontoxic as the cell viability was comparable to that of those cultured in the serum-free medium that was used as a control. The MTT assay also demonstrated that cells proliferated more efficiently on the coated nanofibers than those on the uncoated ones during the 48-h culture period. As observed by scanning electron microscopy, the cells spread well on the coated nanofibers, especially when gelatin was incorporated. The surface modification of PCL nanofiber mats described in this research is therefore an effective technique for improving cell adhesion. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 114: 1574-1579, 2009