# Improved Surface Properties and Enhanced Cell Adhesion on Poly-ε-Caprolactone for Heart Valve Tissue Engineering Applications via H2-N2 Plasma Treatment

## TL;DR

This study shows that plasma treatment improves the surface of PCL scaffolds, enhancing cell adhesion for heart valve tissue engineering.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that H2-N2 plasma treatment enhances PCL surface properties for better cell adhesion without affecting mechanical properties.

## Key findings

- Plasma treatment increased the hydrophilicity of 650 nm PCL specimens.
- Cell attachment significantly improved after plasma treatment.
- Mechanical properties and fibre morphology of PCL remained unchanged.

## Abstract

A tissue-engineered heart valve is a fully functional tissue facilitated through the cultivation of autologous cells on appropriate scaffolds. Scaffold’s surface charge and wettability are the main factors that significantly affect cell adhesion, which is known to be favourable on hydrophilic surfaces. Moreover, biocompatible scaffolds that induce minimal immunogenic response are also essential for successful tissue engineering (TE). However, commonly used biocompatible polymers with preferable bulk properties lack desirable surface properties. For example, poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), which is widely used as a scaffold in TE, is known for its satisfying structural and mechanical properties, but due to its surface characteristics, cell attachment and, consequently, cell growth on this polymer are limited. In this study, we investigated the possible effect of H2-N2 plasma treatment on the surface wettability of electrospun PCL nanofibres to see the feasibility of improvement in cell adhesion and proliferation. Our results showed an increase in the hydrophilicity of the 650 nm PCL specimens after plasma treatment, which was followed by a significant enhancement in cell attachment without altering PCL mechanical properties. Plasma surface modification is a promising approach that can be used to improve hiMSCs growth without altering the desired bulk properties and fibre morphology of 650 nm PCL specimens.