Plasma Surface Chemical Treatment of Electrospun Poly(l-Lactide) Microfibrous Scaffolds for Enhanced Cell Adhesion, Growth, and Infiltration

Poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) microfibrous scaffolds produced by electrospinning were treated with mild Ar or Ar-NH3/H2 plasmas to enhance cell attachment, growth, and infiltration. Goniometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were used to evaluate the modification of the scaffold surface chemistry by plasma treatment. AFM and XPS measurements showed that both plasma treatments increased the hydrophilicity without affecting the integrity of the fibrous structure and the fiber roughness, whereas Ar-NH3/H2 plasma treatment also resulted in surface functionalization with amine groups. Culture studies of bovine aorta endothelial cells and bovine smooth muscle cells on the plasma-treated PLLA scaffolds revealed that both Ar and Ar-NH3/H2 plasma treatments promoted cell spreading during the initial stage of cell attachment and, more importantly, increased the cell growth rate, especially for Ar plasma treatment. In vitro cell infiltration studies showed that both p...