Linker-free covalent immobilization of heparin, SDF-1α, and CD47 on PTFE surface for antithrombogenicity, endothelialization and anti-inflammation

•An implantation-incubation approach is developed for surface modification of PTFE.•Plasma treatment facilitate linker-free covalent immobilization of biomolecules.•Heparin, SDF-1α, and CD47 can be immobilized on PTFE by simple solution incubation.•This approach is versatile for grafting biomolecules on biomedical polymers.

Small-diameter vascular grafts made of biomedical polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) suffer from the poor long-term patency rate originating from thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia, which can be ascribed to the insufficient endothelialization and chronic inflammation of the materials. Hence, bio-functionalization of PTFE grafts is highly desirable to circumvent these disadvantages. In this study, a versatile “implantation-incubation” approach in which the biomedical PTFE is initially modified by plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is described. After the N2 PIII treatment, the surface of biomedical PTFE is roughened with nanostructures and more importantly, the abundant free radicals generated underneath the surface continuously migrate to the surface and react with environmental molecules. Taking advantage of this mechanism, various biomolecules with different functions can be steadily immobilized on the surface of PTFE by simple solution immersion. As examples, three typical biomolecules, heparin, SDF-1α, and CD47, are covalently grafted onto the PTFE. In addition to retaining the bioactivity, the surface-functionalized PTFE exhibits reduced thrombogenicity, facilitates the recruitment of endothelial progenitor cells, and even alleviates the inflammatory immune responses of monocytes-macrophages and is thus promising to the development of small-diameter prosthetic vascular grafts with good long-term patency.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (129KB)Download full-size image