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Abstract
Many studies have tried to look for the application of chitosan in tissue engineering since its structure is similar to glycoaminoglycans, the main components of the extracellular matrix. Previous studies had indicated that the incorporation of sulfonic or phosphonic functionalities would be beneficial to the growth of certain cells. However, no study has explored the effect of incorporation of both above-mentioned anionic functionalities onto the chitosan structure. In this study, we have surface-phosphorylated the polyelectrolyte film formed by chitosan and water-soluble sulfonated chitosan with the aim to incorporate phosphonic and sulfonic functionalities onto the film surface. Surface analyses by ESCA and ATR–FT-IR have shown that these two functional groups have been successfully grafted onto the surface, and that the ratio of P/S was dependent upon the weight ratio of phosphorylation agents added. Blood compatibility evaluation indicated that phosphorylated polyelectrolyte complexes extended the plasma recalcification time as compared to non-treated chitosan and direct-phosphorylated chitosan film. In addition, these phosphorylated polyelectrolyte complexes showed similar or slightly less platelet reactivity than the non-phosphorylated counterpart. In contrast, significant platelet activation and adhesion were noted on the direct-phosphorylated chitosan. This implicated the incorporation of sulfonic acid onto the phosphorylated surface can increase the platelet compatibility. An adipose-derived stem cell incubation study has demonstrated that the incorporation of both phosphonic and sulfonic acid functionalities onto the chitosan surface can enhance the stem cell growth. Therefore, the phosphorylated polyelectrolyte complexes were not only blood compatible but also stem cell compatible, and could be a novel biomaterial in tissue-engineering applications.