Fabrication of Endothelial Cell-Specific Polyurethane Surfaces co-Immobilized with GRGDS and YIGSR Peptides

Polyurethane (PU) is widely used as a cardiovascular biomaterial due to its good mechanical properties and hemocompatibility, but it is not adhesive to endothelial cells (ECs). Cell adhesive peptides, GRGDS and YIGSR, were found to promote adhesion and spreading of ECs and showed a synergistic effect when both of them were used. In this study, a surface modification was designed to fabricate an EC-active PU surface capable of promoting endothelialization using the peptides and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) spacer, The modified PU surfaces were characterized in vitro. The density of the grafted PEG on the PU surface was measured by acid-base back titration to the terminal-free isocyanate groups. The successful immobilization of peptides was confirmed by amino acid analysis, following hydrolysis, and contact angle measurement. The uniform distribution of peptides on the surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). To evaluate the EC adhesive property, cell viability test using human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC) was investigated in vitro and enhanced endothelialization was characterized by the introduction of cell adhesive peptides, GRGDS and YIGSR, and PEG spacer. Therefore, GRGDS and YIGSR co-immobilized PU surfaces can be applied to an EC-specific vascular graft with long-term patency by endothelialization.