Anticellular PEO coatings on titanium surfaces by sequential electrospinning and crosslinking processes

Titanium implants having some superior properties for tissue replacements have been widely used in biomedical fields. However, the implants are vulnerable to bacterial attacks and therefore they must be modified. In this study, two kinds of titanium surfaces, bare (Ti-b) and sandpapered (Ti-p) titanium, were used and electrospinning method was utilized for coating them with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) nanofibers with average diameter of 180 nm. In order to obtain insoluble coating, the PEO nanofibers were crosslinked by UV-initiating and crosslinking agent, pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA), in the presence of UV irradiation at 366-nm wavelength. Fibroblastic MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts and S. epidermidis bacteria were cultured on these surfaces to investigate their attachment and proliferation behavior. The preosteoblasts cultured on Ti-p exhibited better initial adhesion than that of Ti-b at the end of the 4 h of incubation period, which reveals the importance of surface roughness. The bacteria adhered and colonized on Ti-b surfaces at the end of the 24 h of incubation. In contrast, Ti surfaces modified by the PEO nanofibers inhibited cellular and bacterial attachment significantly. This study discloses that electrospinning and subsequent crosslinking of PEO can be evaluated as an effective approach for creating anticellular coatings for Ti implants.