David Limsui and Luke Hanley, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607
This project involves a collaboration of UIC researchers from the Departments of Chemistry, Physiology, and Bioengineering to produce a life-like cell culture system that will be used to study the remodeling of cardiac muscle cells (myocytes). Such a system allows the study of myocyte adaptive and physiological processes in vitro without the difficulties introduced from whole animal research. This research has significant impact upon the areas of tissue engineering, organogenesis, and a body’s acceptance of synthetic implants from contact lenses to prosthetic limbs. The chemistry segment of this project entails modifying silicone polymer membrane surfaces to mimic in vivo conditions. In order to enhance cell adhesion and growth, these membranes have to be chemically modified with amine, crosslinkers, and peptides. Two methods were investigated for the first step of covalently binding amine to the membrane surface: 1) a wet-chemical approach in which the membranes are first oxidized with water plasma and then treated in a silane (APTES) solution, and 2) an electrical discharge plasma modification of the membrane surface with allylamine. The wet-chemical and plasma approaches were compared using a spectrophotometric method of detecting surface amine groups. This method found the average densities of amine groups to be 9.85 and 5.85 per square nanometer using the APTES and plasma treatment, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) also detected the presence of amine upon the surface.