Investigation of layer-by-layer assembled heparin and chitosan multilayer films via electrochemical spectroscopy

A programmed surface on dental implants sequentially initiates bacteriostasis and osseointegration

Osteogenesis surrounding dental implants is initiated by a series of early physiological events, including the inflammatory response. However, the persistence of an anti-infection surface often results in compromised histocompatibility and osseointegration. Here, we presented a programmed surface containing both silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and silver ions (Ag+) with a heterogeneous structure and time-dependent functionalities. The AgNPs were located at the surface of the heparin-chitosan polyelectrolyte coating (PEM), whereas Ag+ was distributed at both the surface and inside of the coating under optimized conditions (pH=4). The optimized coating (Ag-4) exhibited potent bactericidal activity at the early stage (12 and 24 h after inoculation) and a sustained antibacterial efficacy in the subsequent stage (one or two weeks), as it gradually depleted. Furthermore, compared to coatings with sustained high silver concentrations in bacteria-cell coculture experiments, the degradable Ag-4 coating demonstrated improved cytocompatibility, better cell viability, and morphology over time. At a later stage (within one month), the in vivo test revealed that Ag-4-coated titanium had superior histocompatibility and osteogenesis outcomes compared to bare titanium in a bacteria-exposed environment. The programmed surface of dental implants presented in this study offers innovative ideas for sequential antibacterial effects and osseointegration.

Built-up sodium alginate/chlorhexidine multilayer coating on dental implants with initiating anti-infection and cyto-compatibility sequentially for soft-tissue sealing

Soft-tissue sealing at transmucosal sites is very important for preventing the invasion of pathogens and maintaining the long-term stability and function of dental implants. However, the colonization of oral pathogens on the implant surface and surrounding soft tissues can disturb the early establishment of soft-tissue sealing and even induce peri-implant infection. The purpose of this study was to construct two antibacterial coatings with 5 or 10 sodium alginate/chlorhexidine bilayers on titanium surfaces using layer-by-layer self-assembly technology to promote soft-tissue sealing. The corresponding chemical composition, surface topography, wettability and release behaviour were investigated to prove that the resultant coating of sodium alginate and chlorhexidine was coated on the porous titanium surface. In-vitro and in-vivo antibacterial results showed that both prepared coatings inhibited or killed the bacteria on their surfaces and the surrounding areas to prevent plaque biofilm formation, especially the coating with 10 bilayers. Although both coatings inhibited the initial adhesion of fibroblasts, the cytocompatibility gradually improved with coating degradation. More importantly, both coatings achieved cell adhesion and proliferation in an in-vitro bacterial environment and effectively alleviated bacteria-induced subcutaneous inflammation in-vivo. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the multilayered coating could prevent implant-related infections in the initial stage of implant surgery and then improve soft-tissue integration with implant devices.

Engineering of Stable Cross-Linked Multilayers Based on Thermo-Responsive PNIPAM-Grafted-Chitosan/Heparin to Tailor Their Physiochemical Properties and Biocompatibility

The thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) is ubiquitously applied in controlled drug release and tissue engineering. However, the lack of bioactivity of PNIPAM restricts its use in cell-containing systems being a thermo-responsive adhesive substratum with no regulating effect on cell growth and differentiation. In this study, integrating PNIPAM with chitosan into PNIPAM-grafted-chitosan (PNIPAM-Chi) allows a layer-by-layer assembly with bioactive heparin to fabricate PNIPAM-modified polyelectrolyte multilayers (PNIPAM-PEMs). Grafting PNIPAM chains of either 2 (LMW) or 10 kDa (HMW) on the chitosan backbone influences the cloud point (CP) temperature in the range from 31 to 33 °C. PNIPAM-Chi with either a higher molecular weight or a higher degree of substitution of PNIPAM chains exhibiting a significant increase in diameter above CP as ensured by dynamic light scattering is selected to fabricate PEM with heparin as a polyanion at pH 4. Little difference of layer growth is detected between the chosen PNIPAM-Chi used as polycations by surface plasmon resonance, while multilayers formed with HMW-0.02 are more hydrated and show striking swelling-and-shrinking abilities when studied with quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring. Subsequently, the multilayers are covalently cross-linked using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide to strengthen the stability of the systems under physiological conditions. Ellipsometry results confirm the layer integrity after exposure to the physiological buffer at pH 7.4 compared to those without cross-linking. Moreover, significantly higher adhesion and more spreading of C3H10T1/2 multipotent embryonic mouse fibroblasts on cross-linked PEMs, particularly with heparin terminal layers, are observed owing to the bioactivity of heparin. The slightly more hydrophobic surfaces of cross-linked PNIPAM-PEMs at 37 °C also increase cell attachment and growth. Thus, layer-by-layer constructed PNIPAM-PEM with cross-linking represents an interesting cell culture system that can be potentially employed for thermally uploading and controlled release of growth factors that further promotes tissue regeneration.

Naturally-Sourced Antibacterial Polymeric Nanomaterials with Special Reference to Modified Polymer Variants

Despite the recent advancements in treating bacterial infections, antibiotic resistance (AR) is still an emerging issue. However, polymeric nanocarriers have offered unconventional solutions owing to their capability of exposing more functional groups, high encapsulation efficiency (EE) and having sustained delivery. Natural polymeric nanomaterials (NMs) are contemplated one of the most powerful strategies in drug delivery (DD) in terms of their safety, biodegradability with almost no side effects. Every nanostructure is tailored to enhance the system functionality. For example, cost-effective copper NPs could be generated in situ in cellulose sheets, demonstrating powerful antibacterial prospects for food safety sector. Dendrimers also have the capacity for peptide encapsulation, protecting them from proteolytic digestion for prolonged half life span. On the other hand, the demerits of naturally sourced polymers still stand against their capacities in DD. Hence, Post-synthetic modification of natural polymers could play a provital role in yielding new hybrids while retaining their biodegradability, which could be suitable for building novel super structures for DD platforms. This is the first review presenting the contribution of natural polymers in the fabrication of eight polymeric NMs including particulate nanodelivery and nanofabrics with antibacterial and antibiofilm prospects, referring to modified polymer derivatives to explore their full potential for obtaining sustainable DD products.

Multifunctional nanomedicine with silica: Role of silica in nanoparticles for theranostic, imaging, and drug monitoring

The idea of multifunctional nanomedicine that enters the human body to diagnose and treat disease without major surgery is a long-standing dream of nanomaterials scientists. Nanomaterials show incredible properties that are not found in bulk materials, but achieving multi-functionality on a single material remains challenging. Integrating several types of materials at the nano-scale is critical to the success of multifunctional nanomedicine device. Here, we describe the advantages of silica nanoparticles as a tool for multifunctional nano-devices. Silica nanoparticles have been intensively studied in drug delivery due to their biocompatibility, degradability, tunable morphology, and ease of modification. Moreover, silica nanoparticles can be integrated with other materials to obtain more features and achieve theranostic capabilities and multimodality for imaging applications. In this review, we will first compare the properties of silica nanoparticles with other well-known nanomaterials for bio-applications and describe typical routes to synthesize and integrate silica nanoparticles. We will then highlight theranostic and multimodal imaging application that use silica-based nanoparticles with a particular interest in real-time monitoring of therapeutic molecules. Finally, we will present the challenges and perspective on future work with silica-based nanoparticles in medicine.

Novel pH-responsive tobramycin-embedded micelles in nanostructured multilayer-coatings of chitosan/heparin with efficient and sustained antibacterial properties

To endow orthopaedic implants with satisfactory antibacterial properties, the design and development of antibiotic coating on the surface of implants is highly desired. In this work a novel and facile strategy was developed to form pH-responsive layer-by-layer (LbL) films implanted with polymeric micelles as nano-vehicles loaded with charge-weak antibiotic drugs, enabling high drug loading efficiency. Negatively charged tobramycin (Tob)-embeded heparin miscells (HET) and positively charged chitosan (CHT) were exploited as a pH-responsive LBL multilayer building block, respectively. The formation mechanism and pH-stimulated release behavior of the Tob-contained heparin micelles were studied. The characterization on the morphologies, chemical compositions and hydrophilicity of the modified surface confirmed the successuful deposition of the Tob-loaded CHT/HET multilayers coatings on the polydopamine-modified Ti surface. The drug release profiles displayed fast release at pH 7.4 and slow release after exposure to weakly acidic environments. Antibacterial tests indicated that the Tob-embed CHT/HET nanostructured multilayers not only strongly inhibited initial bacterial adhesion, but also disruptted biofilm formation. Particularly, this functional coatings showed "long-term antibacterial" pattern in acid condition. Meanwhile, MC3T3 cells showed acceptable adhesion, spread and proliferation on the multilayer coatings in cytocompatible studies. In a word, these multilayer coatings incorporated with a wide variety of antibiotics show promisiong applications in preventing postoperative infection and resolving unmet clinical need.

The functionalization of natural polymer-coated gold nanoparticles to carry bFGF to promote tissue regeneration

A schematic of the preparation of natural polymer-coated AuNPs for monitoring tissue regeneration stimulated by bFGF.

Functional hydroxyapatite bioceramics with excellent osteoconductivity and stern-interface induced antibacterial ability

Osteogenic Ag/HAp bioceramics possess significant bacteria-killing abilities under ultra-low Ag⁺concentrations and the stern-interface induced antibacterial mechanism was explicitly proposed.

Thermal transitions in hydrated layer-by-layer assemblies observed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Layer-by-layer (LbL) assemblies have been of great interest due to their versatile functionality and ease of fabrication, but their response to temperature is not completely understood. It has been recently shown that hydrated LbL assemblies of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDAC) and poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) under go a thermal transition much like a "glass-melt" transition. This thermal transition is of great interest because many LbL applications are found in water. Here, we report upon the nature of this thermal transition as probed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) as a function of assembly salt concentration, film thickness, and outermost layer. EIS reveals that the transition is signified by a structural rearrangement of virtual pores, resulting in increased conductivity and decreased surface coverage of the electrode. Two separate thermal transitions are obtained from changes in the film resistance (Ttr,Rf) and the charge transfer resistance (Ttr,Rct). Only Ttr,Rct is strongly dependent on film thickness, salt concentration, and outermost layer, for which values ranging from 50 to 64 °C were observed. As the assembly salt concentration increases from 0.5 M to 1.0 M NaCl, Ttr,Rct increases by about 10 °C. Below 20 layers, deviations of Ttr,Rct with respect to outermost layer appear, in which PSS-capped LbL films tend to show elevated Ttr,Rct values. These results suggest that extrinsic charge compensation plays a large role in the value of Ttr,Rct in which a large degree of extrinsic charge compensation drives Ttr,Rct towards higher values. On the other hand, Ttr,Rf is largely unaffected by assembly parameters, and closer in value to prior reports via calorimetry and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation.

Impedance spectroscopy of ions at liquid-liquid interfaces

The possibility to extract properties of an interface between two immiscible liquids, e.g., electrolyte solutions or polyelectrolyte multilayers, by means of impedance spectroscopy is investigated theoretically within a dynamic density-functional theory which is equivalent to the Nernst-Planck-Poisson theory. An approach based on a two-step fitting procedure of an equivalent circuit to impedance spectra is proposed which allows us to uniquely separate bulk and interfacial elements. Moreover, the proposed method avoids overfitting of the bulk properties of the two liquids in contact and underfitting of the interfacial properties, as they might occur for standard one-step procedures. The key idea is to determine the bulk elements of the equivalent circuit in a first step by fitting corresponding subcircuits to the spectra of uniform electrolyte solutions, and afterwards fitting the full equivalent circuit with fixed bulk elements to the impedance spectrum containing the interface. This approach is exemplified for an equivalent circuit which leads to a physically intuitive qualitative behavior as well as to quantitatively realistic values of the interfacial elements. The proposed method is robust such that it can be expected to be applicable to a wide class of systems with liquid-liquid interfaces.

Antiadhesive and antibacterial multilayer films via layer-by-layer assembly of TMC/heparin complexes

N-Trimethyl chitosan (TMC), an antibacterial agent, and heparin (HP), an antiadhesive biopolymer, were alternately deposited on modified polystyrene films, as substrates, to built antiadhesive and antibacterial multilayer films. The properties of the multilayer films were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Kelvin force microscopy. In vitro studies of controlled release of HP were evaluated in simulated intestinal fluid and simulated gastric fluid. The initial adhesion test of E. coli on multilayer films surface showed effective antiadhesive properties. The in vitro antibacterial test indicated that the multilayer films of TMC/HP based on TMC80 can kill the E. coli bacteria. Therefore, antiadhesive and antibacterial multilayer films may have good potential for coatings and surface modification of biomedical applications.

Amperometric biosensor based on 3D ordered freestanding porous Pt nanowire array electrode

A three-dimensionally (3D) ordered freestanding porous platinum (Pt) nanowire array electrode (PPNWAE) with pores of several nanometers in size and a Pt nanowire array electrode (PNWAE) without pores were facilely fabricated by metal electrodeposition and direct integration with a Pt disk electrode. The unusual PPNWAE with high active area showed excellent sensitivity (0.36 mA cm(-2) mM(-1)) and a wide detection range (4.5 μM-27.1 mM) to hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). A glucose oxidase (GOD)-based biosensor (PPNWAE/GOD) with a considerably wide detection range (4.5 μM-189.5 mM) to glucose was demonstrated. Furthermore, a lower detection limit, higher sensitivity and smaller value of Michaelis-Menten constant k(m) were recorded for PPNWAE-based biosensors compared with PNWAE-based biosensors. Particularly, the response current to glucose of PPNWAE/GOD was ca. 100% higher than that of PNWAE/GOD and the response current to H(2)O(2) of PPNWAE was ca. 50% higher than that of PNWAE, owing to the granular and rougher porous nanowire surface enabling greater bioactivity for GOD. The selectivity of PPNWAE/GOD glucose biosensor was also estimated.

Structure and properties of layer-by-layer self-assembled chitosan/lignosulfonate multilayer film

The formation of polycation chitosan, CS, with polyanion lignosulfonate, LGS, multilayer films based on layer-by-layer self-assembly method was investigated by several techniques. UV absorption spectra showed that the growth of both CS and LGS layers followed the exponential model. The film surface wettability was found alternated depending on the surface properties of these two materials because the contact angle is smaller for the CS layer and greater for the LGS layer while the surface free energy is known greater for the former and smaller for the latter. AFM images indicated that the surface roughness of these layers was in nanosize and was increased with the layer number due to the aggregation. The field emission scanning electron microscope photograph showed that the average thickness of each layer was about 5-6nm.

Polyelectrolyte multilayer film on decellularized porcine aortic valve can reduce the adhesion of blood cells without affecting the growth of human circulating progenitor cells

Polyelectrolyte multilayer film modification could be an effective method to reduce the immunological and inflammatory response of the xenogeneic scaffold in vivo, and may also be applied to tissue-engineered heart valve in contact with blood. The objectives of this study are to test heparin-chitosan multilayer film as an antithrombotic coating reagent for decellularized aortic heart valve and the biocompatibility of the modified valvular surface. The adhesion and geometric deformation of platelets were demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy. The quantitative assay of platelet activation was determined by measuring the production of soluble P-selectin. Moreover, the leukocytes' adhesion, erythrocyte hemolysis, and whole blood clotting time studies were performed to gain information on the hemocompatibility of this biomaterial. Human-blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) were cultured and the adhesion and growth of EPCs on the surface-modified PDAV were assessed. The results showed that heparin-chitosan multilayer film could be coated on the decellularized valvular scaffolds, and improved their hemocompatibility with respect to a substantial reduction of platelet adhesion and activation. The modified valve also significantly reduced leukocytes adhesion, erythrocyte hemolysis, and whole blood clotting time. Seeding with EPCs achieved a confluent monolayer on the surface of the decellularized matrix. The in vitro studies performed in this work suggest that it may be reasonable to use heparin-chitosan multilayer film as a means of surface modification to improve the blood compatibility of decellularized valvular scaffold.

Biomaterials that regulate growth factor activity via bioinspired interactions

Growth factor activity is localized within the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) by specific non-covalent interactions with core ECM biomolecules, such as proteins and proteoglycans. Recently, these interactions have inspired us and others to develop synthetic biomaterials that can non-covalently regulate growth factor activity for tissue engineering applications. For example, biomaterials covalently or non-covalently modified with heparin glycosaminoglycans can augment growth factor release strategies. In addition, recent studies demonstrate that biomaterials modified with heparin-binding peptides can sequester cell-secreted heparin proteoglycans and, in turn, sequester growth factors and regulate stem cell behavior. Another set of studies show that modular versions of growth factor molecules can be designed to interact with specific components of natural and synthetic ECMs, including collagen and hydroxyapatite. In addition, layer-by-layer assemblies of GAGs and other natural polyelectrolytes retain growth factors at a cell-material interface via specific non-covalent interactions. This review will detail the various bioinspired strategies being used to non-covalently localize growth factor activity within biomaterials, and will highlight in vivo examples of the efficacy of these materials to promote tissue regeneration.

Backside SERS studies of inhibitor transport through polyelectrolyte films on Ag-substrates

In situ backside surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (in situ-SERS) was newly employed for the study of the transport of inhibiting molecules through a polymer film. The barrier properties of layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte films (PE) composed of polyacrylic acid and polyallylamine hydro-chloride layers on Ag-surfaces were compared between untreated, thermally crosslinked, and Ag-nanoparticles containing samples. IB-SERS enabled the study of the transport of 2-mercaptobenzimidazole (MBI) as an inhibitor through the film. Water barrier properties of the treated PE films determined by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy were correlated to the MBI diffusion kinetics. The PE stability against MBI diffusion and thermal treatment was analyzed by Infra-Red Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (IRRAS). IRRAS showed that the thermally treated PE films formed chemical crosslinking via amide bonds and lowered the diffusion of water and the water uptake in the films. Moreover, the MBI diffusion kinetics can be followed by means of SERS. However, MBI adsorption at the PE film/metal interface was not detected after the heat treatment. In this case the adsorbed PE on the Ag surface was not substituted by the competing adsorption of MBI. Moreover, the presence of Ag-nanoparticles in the film decelerated MBI diffusion to the SERS substrate due to the trapping effect of MBI molecules.

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a highly sensitive tool for a dynamic interaction study between heparin and antithrombin: a novel antithrombin sensor

Specific recognition between two biological partners is widely exploited in biosensors nowadays. To explore this avenue, a novel biosensor for antithrombin (AT) detection was constructed. Heparin was used as the affinity ligand. A well-known acrylic monomer (butyl methacrylate) was polymerized and grafted onto the heparin polysaccharide by the use of ceric ammonium nitrate as a redox initiator in aqueous nitric acid medium. Polymers were deposited as a thin layer onto surface of stainless steel electrode (SS316L). The obtained polymers were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, the films were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), contact-angle measurements and AFM. EIS was used to study the biosensor affinity to AT and the relationship between functionalization growth of modified electrode and the response of the sensor. The proposed approach appears to be simple, sensitive and correlated with methods that analyse the detection of antithrombin.

Self-assembled chitosan/heparin multilayer film as a novel template for in situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles

Chitosan and heparin multilayer films were successfully constructed via layer-by-layer self assembly. These films were used as a polymeric template to synthesize silver nanoparticles. The silver concentration and nanoparticle size can be simply controlled by the assembly pH and loading pH, as demonstrated by UV-visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and atomic absorbance spectroscopy. The pH tunable uncompensated charge density within the multilayer films is believed to have great effect on the loading of silver ions, and then control the size and amount of silver nanoparticles within multilayer films. The antibacterial experiment shows that the silver nanoparticle-loaded chitosan/heparin multilayer films exhibit greatly enhanced antibacterial performance compared to the chitosan/heparin multilayer films without silver nanoparticles. In addition, the strong antibacterial property of silver nanoparticle-loaded films can last more than 1 month. Our method of in situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles in biocompatible multilayer films might provide great potential to design biofunctional nanocomposite films.

Surface active properties of chitosan and its derivatives

This review discusses the definition of surface active agents and specifically natural polymeric surface active agents. Chitosan by itself was found to have weak surface activity since it has no hydrophobic segments. Chemical modifications of chitosan could improve such surface activity. This is achieved by introducing hydrophobic substituents in its glucosidic group. Several examples of chitosan derivatives with surfactant activity have been surveyed. The surface active polymers form micelles and aggregates which have enormous importance in the entrapment of water-insoluble drugs and consequently applications in the controlled drug delivery and many biomedical fields. Chitosan also interacts with several substrates by electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with considerable biomedical applications.