Toward Innovative Hemocompatible Surfaces: Crystallographic Plane Impact on Platelet Activation

ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, vol. 6, pp. 6726–6736

Abstract

The anticoagulation treatment of cardiovascular patients, which is mandatory after implantation of heart valves or stents, has significantly adverse effects on life quality. This treatment can be reduced or even circumvented by developing novel antithrombogenic surfaces of blood-contacting implants. Thus, we aim to discover materials exhibiting outstanding hemocompatibility compared to other available synthetic materials. We present promising surficial characteristics of single crystalline alumina in terms of platelet activation inhibition. In order to elucidate the relation between its crystallographic properties including the plane orientation and blood cell behavior, we examined endothelialization, cytocompatibility, and platelet activation at the blood-alumina interfaces in a controlled experimental setup. We observed that the cell response is highly sensitive to the plane orientation and differs significantly for (0001) and (11–20) planes of Al 2 O 3 . Our results reveal for the first time the dependence of platelet activation on crystallographic orientation, which is assumed to be a critical condition controlling the thrombogenicity. Additionally, we used an endothelial cell monolayer as an internal control since endothelial cells have an impact on vessel integrity and implant acceptance. We successfully demonstrate that Al 2 O 3 (11–20) exhibits enhanced hemocompatibility in contrast to Al 2 O 3 (0001) and is comparable to the physiological endothelial monolayer in vitro .

Authors 10

1. Zümray Vuslat Parlak Aachen Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Mauerstrasse 5, Aachen 52064, Germany

2. Norina Labude Aachen BioInterface Group Institute of Pathology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, BioInterface Group, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 20, Aachen 52074, Germany

   Institute of Pathology, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen 52074, Germany

3. Stephan Rütten Aachen Facility for Electron Microscopy

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Facility for Electron Microscopy, University Clinics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen 52074, Germany

4. Christian Preisinger Aachen Proteomics Core Facility

   Universitätsklinikum Aachen · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Proteomics Core Facility, IZKF Aachen, University Clinics, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen 52074, Germany

5. Jonas Nießen Aachen Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Mauerstrasse 5, Aachen 52064, Germany

6. Anke Aretz Aachen Central Facility for Electron Microscopy

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstrasse 55, Aachen 52074, Germany

7. Rafał Zybała

   Warsaw University of Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   University Research Center Functional Materials, Warsaw University of Technology, 141 Wołoska St., Warsaw 02-507, Poland

8. Rainer Telle Aachen Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Mauerstrasse 5, Aachen 52064, Germany

9. Sabine Neuß Aachen BioInterface Group Institute of Pathology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, BioInterface Group, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 20, Aachen 52074, Germany

   Institute of Pathology, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen 52074, Germany

10. Karolina Schickle corresponding Aachen Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Ceramics and Reftactory Materials, RWTH Aachen University, Mauerstrasse 5, Aachen 52064, Germany