A Stable Cell Membrane-Based Coating with Antibiofouling and Macrophage Immunoregulatory Properties for Implants at the Macroscopic Level

Conventional orthopedic/dental implants can trigger foreign body reactions and are vulnerable to biocontamination because of the lack of suitable surface functions from natural biointerfaces, which may lead to inflammation, infection, and subsequent poor osseointegration and implant failure. Instead of attempting to synthetically replicate the sophisticated biointerface properties, directly utilizing natural cell membranes to bestow implant surfaces with integrated functions is a promising strategy to avoid implant failure. This study presents a facile general strategy for fabricating a controllable (patterned) and bioactive cell membrane-based coating for orthopedic/dental implants at the macroscopic level by leveraging a polyphenol layer (poly­(tannic acid)) as an intermediate to bind the cell membranes to the implant surface. The poly­(tannic acid) layer provides significant immobilization and stability for the cell membrane layer on the implant surface. This homogeneous cell membrane-based coating presents excellent antibiofouling capabilities, which can effectively prevent the nonspecific adsorption of model proteins (bovine serum albumin, fibrinogen, and lysozyme) and bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus). Additionally, it exhibits excellent biocompatibility and macrophage immunoregulatory capacity and can potentially decrease the risk of implant infection. This technique can be applied to diverse cell types and implants for better implant integration because of the high cell affinity of polyphenols.