• Macromolecular Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2001

Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA) was blended with poly[$\omega$-methacryloyloxyethyl phospho-rylcholine-co-ethylhexylmethacrylate (PMEH)] (PLGA/PMEH) to endow with new functionality i.e., to improve the cell-, tissue- and blood-compatibility. The characteristics of surface properties were investigated by measurement of contact angle goniometer, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). NIH/3T3 fibroblast and bovine aortic endothelial cell were cultured on control and PLGA/PMEH surfaces for the evaluation of ceil attachment and proliferation in terms of surface functionality such as the concentration of phosphoryl-choline. Also, the behavior of platelet adhesion on PLGA/PMEH was observed in terms of the surface functionality. The contact angles on control and PLGA/PMEH surfaces decreased with increasing PMEH content from 75$^{\circ}$ to about 43$^{\circ}$. It was observed from the FTIR-ATR spectra that phosphorylcholine groups are gradually increased with increasing blended amount of MPC. The experimental P percent values from ESCA analysis were more 3.28∼7.4 times than that of the theoretical P percent for each blend films. These results clearly indicated that the MPC units were concentrated on the surface of PLGA/PMEH blend. The control and PLGA/PMEH films with 0.5 to 10.0 wt% concentration of PMEH were used to evaluate cell adhesion and growth in terms of phosphorylcholine functionality and wettability. Cell adhesion and growth on PLGA/PMEH surfaces were less active than those of control and both cell number decreased with increasing PMEH contents without the effect of surface wettability. It can be explained that the fibronectin adsorption decreased with an increase in the surface density of phosphorylcholine functional group. One can conclude the amount of the protein adsorption and the adhesion number of cells can be controlled and nonspecifically reduced by the introduction with phosphorylcholine group. Morphology of the adhered platelets on the PLGA/PMEH surface showed lower activating than control and the number of adhered platelets on the PLGA/PMEH sample decreased with increasing the phosphorylcholine contents. The amount of fibrinogen adsorbed on the PLGA/PMEH surface demonstrated that the phospholipid polar group played an important role in reducing protein adsorption on the surface. In conclusion, this surface modification technique might be effectively used PLGA film and scaffolds for controlling the adhesion and growth of cell and tissue, furthermore, blood compatibility of the PLGA was improved by blending of the MPC polymer for the application of tissue engineering fields.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.869-876
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• 2000

In order to improve the cell-compatability of poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (75 : 25 by mole ratio of lactide to glycolide, PLGA) surfaces, the physicochemical treatments have been demonstrated. Chemical treatments were 70% perchloric acid. 50% sulfuric acid and 0.5 N sodium hydroxide solution and physical methods were corona and plasma treatment. The water contact angle of surface treated PLGA decreased from 73$^{\circ}$ to 50~60$^{\circ}$, i.e., increased hydrophilicity, due to the introduction of oxygen-containing functional group onto PLGA backbone by the measurement of an electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. It could be observed that the adhesion and growth of fibroblast cell on physicochemically treated PLGA surfaces, especially perchloric acid treated PLGA surface, were more active than on the controt. In conclusion, it seems that surface wettability as hydrophilicity of PLGA plays an important role in cell adhesion, spreading and growth.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.185-190
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the phagocytic uptake of surface modified PLGA microspheres containing ovalbumin (OVA) into dendritic cell. In order to find the most suitable formulation for targeted delivery to antigen presenting cells (APC), OVA was encapsulated by a double emulsion solvent evaporation method with three PLGA microspheres (PLGA 50:50, PLGA 75:25 and PLGA 85:15) and two surface modified microspheres by chitosan and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Physicochemical properties were evaluated in terms of size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, different scanning calorimeter (DSC), x-ray diffraction, morphology, and OVA release test from microspheres. Phagocytic activity was estimated using dendritic cells and analyzed by fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS). The result showed that zeta potential of PLGA particles was changed to positive by the chitosan modification. The release profile of chitosan modified PLGA microspheres exhibited sustained release after initial burst. The chitosan modified microspheres had higher phagocytic uptake than the other microspheres. Such physicochemical properties and phagocytic uptake studies lead us to conclude that chitosan modified microspheres is more suitable formulation for the targeted delivery of antigens to APC compared with the other microspheres.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.1333-1336
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• 2014

Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) grafts have been used as vascular access for many patients suffering from end stage renal disease. However, the vascular graft can cause significant clinical problems such as stenosis or thrombosis. For this reason, many studies have been performed to make drug eluting graft, but initial burst is major problem in almost drug eluting systems. Therefore we used biodegradable polymer to reduce initial burst and make sustained drug delivery. The ePTFE grafts were dipped into a paclitaxel-dissolved solution and then PLGA-dissolved solution was passed through the lumen of ePTFE. We analyzed whether the dose of paclitaxel is enough and the loading amount of PLGA on ePTFE graft increases according to the coating solution's concentration. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of various concentration of PLGA showed that the porous surface of graft was more packed with PLGA by tetrahydrofuran solution dissolved PLGA. In addition, in vitro release profiles of Ptx-PLGA graft demonstrated that early burst was gradually decreased as increasing the concentration of PLGA. These results suggest that PLGA coating of Ptx loaded graft can retard drug release, it is useful tool to control drug release of medical devices.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.167-171
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• 2009

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres have been a useful tool as a controlled drug delivery system for peptides and proteins. Recently, porous microspheres have gained great attention as inhalation drug delivery system due to their low aerodynamic densities. Here, we report highly porous PLGA microspheres, which were prepared by using a single o/w emulsification/solvent evaporation method. Two types of porogen, i.e., (i) extractable Pluronic F127 and (ii) gas foaming salt of ammonium bicarbonate, were used to induce pores on the surface of PLGA microspheres. The respective preparation conditions on dp/cp ratio and porogen concentration were determined by the previous preliminary experiments, and other preparation factors were further optimized on the basis of PLGA Mw and porogen type. The morphological features examined by scanning electron microscope (SEM) show these porous microspheres have highly porous surface structure with a diameter range of 20${\sim}$30 ${\mu}$m. These highly porous PLGA microspheres, which have much lower density, would be a practical aerosol system for pulmonary drug delivery.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.276-284
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• 2000

A wettability chemogradient on poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) films was prepared by treating the films in air with corona from a knife-type electrode whose power increases gradually along the sample length. The PLGA surfaces oxidized gradually with the increasing corona power, and the wettability chemogradient was created on the surfaces as evidenced by the measurement of water contact angles and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis. The wettability chemogradient PLGA surfaces were used to investigate the interaction of four different types of cells such as hepatoma (Hep G2), osteoblast (MG 63), bovine aortic endothelial (CPAE), and fibroblast (NIH/3T3) cells in terms of the surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of PLGA. The cells adhered and grown on the chemogradient surface along the sample length were counted and observed by scanning electron microscopy. It was observed that the cells were adhered, spread, and grown more onto the positions with moderate hydrophilicity of the wettability chemogradient PLGA surface than the more hydrophobic or hydrophillic positions, regardless of the cell types used. The maximum adhesion and growth of the cells appeared at around water contact angles of 53～55°. This result seems closely related with the serum protein adsorption on the surface; the serum proteins were also adsorbed more onto the positions with moderate hydrophilicity of the wettability chemogradient surface. It seems that the wettability plays important roles for cell adhesion, spreading and growth on the PLGA surface. The surface modification technique used in this study may be applicable tothe area of tissue engineering for the improvement of tissue compatibility of films- or scaffold-type substrates.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.445-452
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• 2006

In this study, we investigated interaction of Schwann cells (SCs) with various cell-adhesive coated polymer surface. We used cell-adhesives that like a fibronectin (FN), fibrinogen(FG), laminin(LM), vitronectin (VN), poly-D-Iysine (PDL), and poly-L-Iysine (PLL) to coat PLGA film surface and evaluated the surface property of coated or not PLGA films by measurement of water contact angle and ESCA. SCs were cultured on coated or non-coated PLGA film surface, and then examined the cell adhesion and proliferation by cell count and SEM observation. Cell count results revealed initial cell adhesion related to protein adsorption on PLGA surface. In addition, serum content in media related to cell proliferation rate. In this result, we recognized that adhesion and proliferation of SCs were affected by specific cell-adhesives. In these results, we recognized that is important to provide the suitable surface environment according to cell types and culture condition for improvement of cell adhesion and proliferation.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.238-243
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• 2007

Nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning a solution of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and their mean diameter was 340 nm. The PLGA nanofibers were treated with a plasma in the presence of either oxygen or ammonia gas to change their surface characteristics. The hydrophilicity of the electrospun PLGA nanofibers was significantly increased by the gas plasma treatment, as confirmed by contact angle measurements. XPS analysis demonstrated that the chemical composition of the PLGA nanofiber surface was influenced by the plasma treatment, resulting in an increase in the number of polar groups, which contributed to the enhanced surface hydrophilicity. The degradation behavior of the PLGA nanofibers was accelerated by the plasma treatment, and the adhesion and proliferation of mouse fibroblasts on the plasma-treated nanofibers were significantly enhanced. This approach to controlling the surface characteristics of nanofibers prepared from biocompatible polymers could be useful in the development of novel polymeric scaffolds for tissue engineering.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1577-1582
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• 2006

Cartilage tissue engineering has emerged as an alternative approach for reconstruction or repair of injured cartilage tissues. In this study, rabbit chondrocytes were cultured in a three-dimensional environment to fabricate a new cartilaginous tissue with the application of tissue engineering strategies based on biodegradable PLGA microspheres. Chondrocytes were seeded on PLGA microspheres and cultured on a rocking platform for 5 weeks. The PLGA microspheres provided more surface area to adhere chondrocytes compared with PLGA sponge scaffolds. The novel system facilitated uniform distribution of the cells on the whole of the PLGA microspheres, thus forming a new cartilaginous construct at 4 weeks of culture. The histological and immunohistochemical analyses verified that the number of chondrocytes and the amount of extracellular matrix components such as proteoglycans and type II collagen were significantly greater on the PLGA microspheres constructs as compared with those on the PLGA sponge scaffolds. Therefore, PLGA microspheres enhanced the function of chondrocytes compared with PLGA sponge scaffolds, and thus might be useful for formation of cartilage tissue in vitro.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2008

Because demineralized bone particle (DBP) contains various bioactive molecules such as cytokines, it is widely used biomaterials in the field of tissue engineering. In this study, we investigated the effect of 2-dimensional DBP/PLGA hybrid films on adhesion, proliferation and phenotype maintenance of intervertebral disc cells. PLGA films incorporated with different amount (0, 10, 20, 40 and 80 wt%) of DBP were prepared by the solvent evaporation method and characterized by scanning election microscopy (SEM). PLGA film has a flat and smooth surface. According to the increase of content of DBP, the surface of DBP/PLGA film exhibited few agglomerates and increased the roughness of the surface. Annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) cells were cultured on PLGA and DBP/PLGA film surface, and then examined the cell adhesion and proliferation by the cell count and SEM observation. The result of cell count and SEM observation revealed that 10 and 20% DBP in DBP/PLGA films were superior to adhesion and proliferation of both AF and NP cells. We confirmed that specific gene expression of disc cells on DBP/PLGA film based on the cell count result. Disc cells seeded on 20% DBP/PLGA film expressed the gene of type I and II collagen continuously. Therefore, pertinent content of biomaterials could provide more appropriate condition on adhesion and proliferation of cell. And this results may be used as a basic data for the intervertebral disc regeneration using tissue engineering.