Grafting of dermatan sulfate on polyethylene terephtalate to enhance biointegration Manel Dhahri, 1 * Aicha Abed, 2 * Ramzi Hadj Lajimi, 3 Mohamed Ben Mansour, 1 Virginie Gueguen, 2 Saber Ben Abdesselem, 4 Frederic Chaubet, 2 Didier Letourneur, 2 Anne Meddahi-Pelle ´, 2 Raoui M. Maaroufi 5 1 Laboratoire de Pharmacologie 04/UR/01-09, Faculte ´ de Me ´ decine, Monastir, Tunisia 2 Inserm, U698, Ho ˆ pital Xavier Bichat; BPC, Institut Galile ´ e, Universite ´ Paris 13, France 3 Laboratoire de Traitement des Eaux Use ´ es, Centre de Recherches et des Technologies des Eaux, 8020 Soliman, Tunisia 4 Unite ´ de recherches textiles, ISET de Ksar Hellal, Tunisia 5 Unite ´ de recherche 05/UR/09-11, Institut Supe ´ rieur de Biotechnologie de Monastir, Tunisia Received 13 August 2010; revised 17 November 2010; accepted 11 January 2011 Published online 4 May 2011 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.33077 Abstract: The aim of the present study was to achieve the immobilization of dermatan sulfate (DS) on polyethylene ter- ephthalate (PET) surfaces and to evaluate its biocompatibility. DS obtained from the skin of Scyliorhinus canicula shark was immobilized via carbodiimide on knitted PET fabrics, modi- fied with carboxyl groups. PET-DS characterization was per- formed by SEM, ATR-FTIR and contact angle measurements. Biocompatibility was evaluated by investigating plasma pro- tein adsorption and endothelial cell proliferation, as well as by subcutaneous implantations in rats. The results indicated that DS immobilization on PET was achieved at 8 lg/cm 2 . ATR-FTIR evidenced the presence of sulfate groups on the PET surface. In turn, contact angle measurements indicated an increase in the surface wettability. DS immobilization increased albumin adsorption on the PET surface, whereas it decreased that of fibrinogen. In vitro cell culture revealed that endothelial cell proliferation was also enhanced on PET-DS. Histological results after 15 days of subcutaneous implantation showed a better integration of PET-DS samples in comparison to those of nonmodified PET. In summary, DS was successfully grafted onto the surface of PET, providing it new physicochemical characteristics and biological properties for PET, thus enhancing its biointegration. V C 2011 Wiley Periodi- cals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 98A: 114–121, 2011. Key Words: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), dermatan sulfate, immobilization, endothelial cell, implantation INTRODUCTION In the last decades, a wide variety of biomaterials have been developed with different physico-mechanical, chemical and biochemical properties depending on the biomedical application. Directly related to the chemical and biochemical characteristics of the biomaterial is the biocompatibility, defined as ‘‘the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific application,’’ 1,2 taking into account the interactivity between the biomaterial and the host. 3 Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most im- portant polymeric materials used in the biomedical field because of its excellent mechanical properties and the moder- ate inflammatory response its induces. PET has a wide range of medical applications, 4 including vascular prostheses, 5–7 heart valve sewing cuffs, 8,9 implantable sutures 10 and surgi- cal mesh. 11,12 Most of the common polymers, including PET, applied in biomedical practice are not able to support the growth and function of adhesion-dependent cells. The bulk properties of PET membranes, like mechanical stability or permeation characteristics, are often convenient for the application but the biocompatibility of their surfaces is not sufficient. 13 Numerous studies have focused on the modification of PET-based materials, such as vascular prostheses, with biologically active molecules in order to improve their biocompatibility. 14 Biomolecules such as albumin, gelatin, 15 fibronectin, 16 and RGD peptide 17 have been introduced on polymer surfaces to accelerate their endothelialization. One strategy to improve the biocompatibility of PET is to treat the material surface with glycosaminoglycans, such as heparin and dermatan sulfate (DS) which play key biological roles, since they can act as stabilizers, cofactors, and coreceptors for growth factors, cytokines and chemo- kines and as regulators of enzyme activity or as signaling molecules in response to cellular damage. 18 Furthermore, dermatan sulfate being predominantly expressed in the skin, several experiments have demonstrated that it could be considered as a multifunctional facilitator of the wound repair process. 19 DS is an ubiquitous element of the extracellular matrix. This glycosaminoglycan is composed of a linear *These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to: R. M. Maaroufi; e-mail: rmmaaroufi@yahoo.fr 114 V C 2011 WILEY PERIODICALS, INC.