Accelerated mineralization on nanofibers via non-thermal atmospheric plasma assisted glutamic acid templated peptide conjugation

Surface modification by non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) treatment can produce significantly higher carboxylic groups on the nanofibers (NF) surface, which potentially can increase biomineralization of NF via promoting glutamic acid (GLU) templated peptide conjugation. Herein, electrospun poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) scaffolds were treated with NTAP and conjugated with GLU peptide followed by incubation in simulated body fluids for mineralization. The effect of NTAP treatment and GLU peptide conjugation on mineralization, surface wettability and roughness were investigated. The results showed that NTAP treatment significantly increased GLU peptide conjugation which consequently enhanced mineralization and mechanical properties of NTAP treated and peptide conjugated NF (GLU-pNF) compared to neat PLGA NF, NTAP treated NF (pNF) and GLU peptide conjugated NF (GLU-NF). The effect of surface modification on human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells adhesion, proliferation and morphology was evaluated by cell proliferation assay and fluorescent microscopy. Results demonstrated that cellular adhesion and proliferation were significantly higher on GLU-pNF compared to NF, pNF and GLU-NF. In summary, NTAP treatment could be a promising modification technique to induce biomimetic peptide conjugation and biomineralization for bone tissue engineering applications.