The Preparation of Silk Fibroin Modified PBT-co-PBS/PEG Composite Films and their Effects on Clinical Human Salivary Epithelial Cells Transplantation

We reported the preparation of surface modified poly(butylene terephthalate)-co-poly(butylene succinate)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) (i.e. PBT-co-PBS/PEG) films by three methods: silk fibroin coating, SO2 plasma treatment and silk fibroin anchoring. The obtained composite films were named SF/(PBT-co-PBS/PEG), SO2/(PBT-co-PBS/PEG) and SF/SO2/(PBT-co-PBS/PEG), respectively. Their surface properties were characterized by contact angles, surface energies and XPS. The biocompatibility of the films were further evaluated by the morphology, attachment, proliferation and viability of human salivary epithelial cells (HSG cells). Results revealed that SF/SO2/(PBT-co-PBS/PEG) possessed the high surface free energy (59.67 mJ/m2) and could immobilize a great amount of fibroin (SF surface coverage: 26.39 wt%), which attributed to the formation of such polar groups as hydrosulfide group, sulfonic group, carboxyl and carbonyl ones in the process of SO2 plasma treatment. The cell tests suggested that the silk fibroin anchoring could significantly enhance the biocompatibility of PBT-co-PBS/PEG, which implied the potential application of fibroin modified PBT-co-PBS/PEG for clinical HSG cells transplantation in artificial salivary gland constructs.