Keratinocyte and Hepatocyte Growth Proliferation and Adhesion to Helium and Helium/Oxygen Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treated Polyethylene Terephthalate

Abstract

To improve the surface properties of biomaterials, the effects of changes in surface chemistry and morphology of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films treated with atmospheric pressure plasma were investigated as a function of cellular growth, proliferation, and adhesion. PET films were subjected to helium and helium/oxygen gas plasmas. The contact angle of the treated films decreased due to plasma etching and possible scission indicating that the surfaces become more hydrophilic. Atomic force microscopy results had a large standard error, however the surface visually showed changes in surface micro and nanoscale roughness corresponding to treatment duration. Keratinocytes were plated on the day of plasma treatment and two and five days after plasma treatment and tested half a day, one, two, three, and six days after plating. The same methodology of plating and testing was also applied to hepatocytes. Cell growth, proliferation, and adhesion were characterized via a fluorescent probe based assay and were correlated with surface chemical and nanostructural features. Both the helium and helium/oxygen plasma-treated PET had little or no effect on cell behavior for both keratinocytes and hepatocytes. The nanoscale surface changes due to the plasma surface treatment are believed to be masked by the protein adherence in the media on the surface of the PET.

Description

Keywords

cell adhesion, cell growth, atmospheric pressure plasma, PET

Citation

Degree

MS

Discipline

Biomedical Engineering

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