A molecular modeling study of the effect of surface chemistry on the adsorption of a fibronectin fragment spanning the 7-10th type III repeats

Laser texturing of additively manufactured implants: A tool to programme biological response

The advent of additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly shaping healthcare technologies pushing forward personalisation and enhanced implant functionalisation to improve clinical outcomes. AM techniques such as powder bed fusion (PBF) have been adopted despite the need to modify the as-built surface post manufacture. Medical device manufacturers have focused their efforts on refining various physical and chemical surface finishing approaches, however there is little consensus and some methods risk geometry alteration or contamination. This has led to a growing interest in laser texturing technologies to engineer the device surface. Herein, several bioinspired micro and nano textures were applied to laser PBF Ti-6Al-V4 substrates to alter physicochemical properties and in-turn we sought to understand what influences these alterations had on a human osteosarcoma cell line (MG63). Significant variations in roughness and time dependent contact angles were revealed between different patterns provide a tool to elicit desired biological responses. All surface treatments effectively enhanced early cell behaviour and in particular coverage was increased for the micro-textures. Influence of the patterns on cell differentiation was less consistent with alkaline phosphatase content increased only for the channel, grid and dual textures. While long term (21 days) mineralisation was found to be significantly enhanced in grids, dual, triangles and shark skin textures. Further regression analysis of all physicochemical and biological variables indicated that several properties should be used to strongly correlate cell behaviour, resulting in 82 % of the 21 day mineralisation dataset explained through a combination of roughness kurtosis and glycerol contact angle. Overall, this manuscript demonstrates the ability of laser texturing to offer tailored cell-surface interactions, which can be tuned to offer a tool to drive functional customisation of anatomically customised medical devices.

Mechanistic insights into the adsorption and bioactivity of fibronectin on surfaces with varying chemistries by a combination of experimental strategies and molecular simulations

Fibronectin (Fn) is significant to the performance of biomaterials, and the chemistry of biomaterial surface play important roles in Fn adsorption and subsequent cell behavior. However, the "molecular scale" mechanism is still unclear. Herein, we combined experimental strategies with molecular simulations to solve this problem. We prepared self-assembled monolayers with varying chemistries, i.e., SAMs-CH₃, SAMs-NH₂, SAMs-COOH and SAMs-OH, and characterized Fn adsorption and cell behaviors on them. Next, Monte Carlo method and all-atom molecular dynamics simulations were employed to reveal the orientation/conformation of Fn on surfaces. We found that SAMs-CH₃ strongly adsorbed Fn via hydrophobic interactions, but show poor bioactivity as the low exposure of RGD/PHSRN motifs and the deformation of Fn. SAMs-NH₂ and SAMs-COOH could adsorb Fn efficiently via vdW interactions, electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonds and salt bridges. Fn exhibited excellent bioactivity for cell adhesion, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation as high exposure of bioactive motifs on SAMs-NH₂, or as the activation of other inferior cell-binding motifs on SAMs-COOH. SAMs-OH showed poor Fn adsorption as the water film. However, the adsorbed Fn displayed non-negligible bioactivity due to high exposure of PHSRN motif and large degree of protein flexibility. We believe that the revealed mechanism presents great potential to rationally design Fn-activating biomaterials.

Adsorption of Fibronectin Fragment on Surfaces Using Fully Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The effect of surface chemistry on the adsorption characteristics of a fibronectin fragment (FNIII^8⁻10) was investigated using fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Model surfaces were constructed to replicate self-assembled monolayers terminated with methyl, hydroxyl, amine, and carboxyl moieties. It was found that adsorption of FNIII^8⁻10 on charged surfaces is rapid, specific, and driven by electrostatic interactions, and that the anchoring residues are either polar uncharged or of opposing charge to that of the targeted surfaces. On charged surfaces the presence of a strongly bound layer of water molecules and ions hinders FNIII^8⁻10 adsorption. In contrast, adsorption kinetics on uncharged surfaces are slow and non-specific, as they are driven by van der Waals interactions, and the anchoring residues are polar uncharged. Due to existence of a positively charged area around its cell-binding region, FNIII^8⁻10 is available for subsequent cell binding when adsorbed on a positively charged surface, but not when adsorbed on a negatively charged surface. On uncharged surfaces, the availability of the fibronectin fragment's cell-binding region is not clearly distinguished because adsorption is much less specific.

Role of Ninth Type-III Domain of Fibronectin in the Mediation of Cell-Binding Domain Adsorption on Surfaces with Different Chemistries

The orientation and conformation of adhesive proteins after adsorption play a central role in cell-binding bioactivity. Fibronectin (Fn) holds two peptide sequences that favor cell adhesion: the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) loop on the tenth type-III domain (Fn-III₁₀) and the Pro-His-Ser-Arg-Asn (PHSRN) synergy site on the ninth type-III domain (Fn-III₉). Herein, adsorption of Fn fragments (Fn-III₁₀ and Fn-III_9-10) on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) carrying various functional groups (-COOH, -NH₂, -CH₃, and -OH) was investigated by the Monte Carlo method and molecular dynamics simulation in order to understand its mediation effect on cell adhesion. The results demonstrated that Fn-III₉ could enhance the stiffness of the Fn molecule and further fix the adsorption orientation. The RGD site of the Fn fragment appeared to be deactivated on hydrophobic surfaces (CH₃-SAM) because of the binding of adjacent nonpolar residues on surfaces, whereas charged surfaces (COOH-SAM and NH₂-SAM) and hydrophilic surfaces (OH-SAM) were conducive to the formation of cell-binding-favorable orientation for Fn fragments. The cell adhesion capability of Fn fragments was highly improved on positively charged surfaces (NH₂-SAM) and hydrophilic surfaces because of the advantageous steric structure and orientation of both RGD and PHSRN sites. This work provides an insight into the interplay at the atomic scale between protein adsorption and surface chemistry for designing biologically responsive substrate surfaces.

Effects of the dielectric properties of the ceramic-solvent interface on the binding of proteins to oxide ceramics: a non-local electrostatic approach

The rapid development of nanoscience and nanotechnology has raised many fundamental questions that significantly impede progress in these fields. In particular, understanding the physicochemical processes at the interface in aqueous solvents requires the development and application of efficient and accurate methods. In the present work we evaluate the electrostatic contribution to the energy of model protein-ceramic complex formation in an aqueous solvent. We apply a non-local (NL) electrostatic approach that accounts for the effects of the short-range structure of the solvent on the electrostatic interactions of the interfacial systems. In this approach the aqueous solvent is considered as a non-ionic liquid, with the rigid and strongly correlated dipoles of the water molecules. We have found that an ordered interfacial aqueous solvent layer at the protein- and ceramic-solvent interfaces reduces the charging energy of both the ceramic and the protein in the solvent, and significantly increases the electrostatic contribution to their association into a complex. This contribution in the presented NL approach was found to be significantly shifted with respect to the classical model at any dielectric constant value of the ceramics. This implies a significant increase of the adsorption energy in the protein-ceramic complex formation for any ceramic material. We show that for several biocompatible ceramics (for example HfO2, ZrO2, and Ta2O5) the above effect predicts electrostatically induced protein-ceramic complex formation. However, in the framework of the classical continuum electrostatic model (the aqueous solvent as a uniform dielectric medium with a high dielectric constant ∼80) the above ceramics cannot be considered as suitable for electrostatically induced complex formation. Our results also show that the protein-ceramic electrostatic interactions can be strong enough to compensate for the unfavorable desolvation effect in the process of protein-ceramic complex formation.

Integrating mechanical and biological control of cell proliferation through bioinspired multieffector materials

In nature, cells respond to complex mechanical and biological stimuli whose understanding is required for tissue construction in regenerative medicine. However, the full replication of such bimodal effector networks is far to be reached. Engineering substrate roughness and architecture allows regulating cell adhesion, positioning, proliferation, differentiation and survival, and the external supply of soluble protein factors (mainly growth factors and hormones) has been long applied to promote growth and differentiation. Further, bioinspired scaffolds are progressively engineered as reservoirs for the in situ sustained release of soluble protein factors from functional topographies. We review here how research progresses toward the design of integrative, holistic scaffold platforms based on the exploration of individual mechanical and biological effectors and their further combination.

Perspectives on the simulation of protein-surface interactions using empirical force field methods

Protein-surface interactions are of fundamental importance for a broad range of applications in the fields of biomaterials and biotechnology. Present experimental methods are limited in their ability to provide a comprehensive depiction of these interactions at the atomistic level. In contrast, empirical force field based simulation methods inherently provide the ability to predict and visualize protein-surface interactions with full atomistic detail. These methods, however, must be carefully developed, validated, and properly applied before confidence can be placed in results from the simulations. In this perspectives paper, I provide an overview of the critical aspects that I consider being of greatest importance for the development of these methods, with a focus on the research that my combined experimental and molecular simulation groups have conducted over the past decade to address these issues. These critical issues include the tuning of interfacial force field parameters to accurately represent the thermodynamics of interfacial behavior, adequate sampling of these types of complex molecular systems to generate results that can be comparable with experimental data, and the generation of experimental data that can be used for simulation results evaluation and validation.

Whispering gallery mode biosensor quantification of fibronectin adsorption kinetics onto alkylsilane monolayers and interpretation of resultant cellular response

A Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) biosensor was constructed to measure the adsorption of protein onto alkysilane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) at solution concentrations unattainable with other techniques. The high sensitivity was provided by a WGM resonance excited in a silica microsphere that was functionalized with alkylsilane SAMs and integrated in a microfluidic flow cell under laminar flow conditions. It was found that FN adsorbed at biologically relevant surface densities, however, the adsorption kinetics and concentration dependent saturation values varied significantly from work published utilizing alkanethiol SAMs. Mathematical models were applied to the experimental results to interpret the observed kinetics of FN adsorption. Embryonic hippocampal neurons and skeletal myoblasts were cultured on the modified surfaces, a live--dead assay was used to determine the viability of the FN surfaces for cell culture, and major differences were noted in the biological response to the different SAMs. The high sensitivity and simplicity of the WGM biosensor, combined with its ability to quantify the adsorption of any dilute protein in a label-free assay, establishes the importance of this technology for the study of surface accretion and its effect on cellular function, which can affect biomaterials for both in vivo and in vitro applications.

Development of molecular simulation methods to accurately represent protein-surface interactions: The effect of pressure and its determination for a system with constrained atoms

When performing molecular dynamics simulations for a system with constrained (fixed) atoms, traditional isobaric algorithms (e.g., NPT simulation) often cannot be used. In addition, the calculation of the internal pressure of a system with fixed atoms may be highly inaccurate due to the nonphysical nature of the atomic constraints and difficulties in accurately defining the volume occupied by the unconstrained atoms in the system. The inability to properly set and control pressure can result in substantial problems for the accurate simulation of condensed-phase systems if the behavior of the system (e.g., peptide/protein adsorption) is sensitive to pressure. To address this issue, the authors have developed an approach to accurately determine the internal pressure for a system with constrained atoms. As the first step in this method, a periodically extendable portion of the mobile phase of the constrained system (e.g., the solvent atoms) is used to create a separate unconstrained system for which the pressure can be accurately calculated. This model system is then used to create a pressure calibration plot for an intensive local effective virial parameter for a small volume cross section or "slab" of the system. Using this calibration plot, the pressure of the constrained system can then be determined by calculating the virial parameter for a similarly sized slab of mobile atoms. In this article, the authors present the development of this method and demonstrate its application using the CHARMM molecular simulation program to characterize the adsorption behavior of a peptide in explicit water on a hydrophobic surface whose lattice spacing is maintained with atomic constraints. The free energy of adsorption for this system is shown to be dramatically influenced by pressure, thus emphasizing the importance of properly maintaining the pressure of the system for the accurate simulation of protein-surface interactions.

Surface orientation of magainin 2: molecular dynamics simulation and sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopic studies

We combined molecular dynamics based free energy calculations with sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy to study the orientational distribution of solvated peptides near hydrophobic surfaces. Using a simplified atomistic model of the polystyrene (PS) surface, molecular dynamics simulations have been applied to compute the orientational probability of an α-helical peptide, magainin 2, with respect to the PS/water interface. Free energy calculations revealed that the preferred (horizontal) peptide orientation was driven by the favorable interactions between the hydrophobic PS surface and the hydrophobic residues on the helix, and additional simulations examined the importance of small aggregate formation. Concentration-dependent measurements obtained via SFG vibrational spectroscopy suggest that, at very low peptide concentrations, magainin molecules tend to lie down at the PS/solution interface, which correlates well with the simulation results. When the concentration is increased, peptides exhibit behavior not captured by MD simulations using single helical peptides. A combination of simulations and experiments was shown to yield more reliable results with molecular-level insights into interaction between peptides and polymer surfaces.

Effect of the ordered interfacial water layer in protein complex formation: A nonlocal electrostatic approach

Using a nonlocal electrostatic approach that incorporates the short-range structure of the contacting media, we evaluated the electrostatic contribution to the energy of the complex formation of two model proteins. In this study, we have demonstrated that the existence of an ordered interfacial water layer at the protein-solvent interface reduces the charging energy of the proteins in the aqueous solvent, and consequently increases the electrostatic contribution to the protein binding (change in free energy upon the complex formation of two proteins). This is in contrast with the finding of the continuum electrostatic model, which suggests that electrostatic interactions are not strong enough to compensate for the unfavorable desolvation effects.

Designing tailored biomaterial surfaces to direct keratinocyte morphology, attachment, and differentiation

Precisely engineering the surface chemistry of biomaterials to modulate the adsorption and functionality of biochemical signaling molecules that direct cellular functions is critical in the development of tissue engineered scaffolds. Specifically, this study describes the use of functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a model system to assess the effects of biomaterial surface properties on controlling fibronectin (FN) conformation and concentration as well as keratinocyte function. By systematically analyzing FN adsorption at low and saturated surface densities, we distinguished between SAM-dependent effects of FN concentration and conformation on presenting cellular binding domains that direct cellular functions. Quantitative image analyses of immunostained samples showed that modulating the availability of the FN synergy site directly correlated with changes in keratinocyte attachment, spreading, and differentiation, through integrin-mediated signaling mechanisms. The results of this study will be used to elucidate design features that can be incorporated into dermal equivalents and percutaneous implants to enhance the rate of re-epithelialization and tissue regeneration. Furthermore, these findings indicate that SAM-based model systems are a valuable tool for designing and investigating the development of scaffolds that regulate the conformation of extracellular matrix cues and cellular functions that accelerate the rate of tissue regeneration.

Peptide conformations for a microarray surface-tethered epitope of the tumor suppressor p53

Peptides or proteins near surfaces exhibit different structural properties from those present in a homogeneous solution, and these differences give rise to varied biological activity. Therefore, understanding the detailed molecular structure of these molecules tethered to a surface is important for interpreting the performance of the various microarrays based on the activities of the immobilized peptides or proteins. We performed molecular dynamics simulations of a pentapeptide, RHSVV, an epitope of the tumor suppressor protein p53, tethered via a spacer on a functionalized silica surface and free in solution, to study their structural and conformational differences. These calculations allowed analyses of the peptide-surface interactions, the sequence orientations, and the translational motions of the peptide on the surface to be performed. Conformational similarities are found among dominant structures of the tethered and free peptide. In the peptide microarray simulations, the peptide fluctuates between a parallel and tilted orientation driven in part by the hydrophobic interactions between the nonpolar peptide residues and the methyl-terminated silica surface. The perpendicular movement of the peptide relative to the surface is also restricted due to the hydrophobic nature of the microarray surface. With regard to structures available for recognition and binding, we find that similar conformations to those found in solution are available to the peptide tethered to the surface, but with a shifted equilibrium constant. Comparisons with experimental results show important implications of this for peptide microarray design and assays.

Hydrophobic and Electrostatic Interactions in the Adsorption of Fibronectin at Maleic Acid Copolymer Films

Adsorption and desorption of fibronectin (FN) were investigated at thin films of alternating maleic acid copolymers with octadecene (POMA) and with propene (PPMA). The hydrophobicity and charge density of the polymers were modulated by the choice of the comonomer. In consequence, the dominant forces between the substrate and the protein were specified as hydrophobic interaction for POMA and electrostatic interaction for PPMA. The adsorption kinetics were investigated in situ as variations of the optical thickness, adsorbed mass, and viscoelastic properties (detected by reflectometric interference spectroscopy and quartz crystal microbalance technique, respectively) while alterations of the electrosurface properties were derived from surface conductivity data and isoelectric points (by streaming potential/current measurements using a microslit electrokinetic setup). The results demonstrate that the interfacial mode of adsorbed FN depends on the predominant interactions: large amounts of FN were tightly bound to POMA by hydrophobic interactions. In contrast, FN adsorbed on PPMA was concluded to attain an unfolded structure allowing for the "electrostatic matching" of positively charged residues on FN with the maleic acid groups. This conclusion was supported by the acidic IEP of 3.2 found for FN on PPMA and a significant reduction of the surface conductivity of the FN-covered polymer film, whereas FN on POMA showed an IEP of 4.2 (close to the intrinsic IEP of FN), indicating a stochastic orientation of the adsorbed protein.

Modulating cell adhesion and spreading by control of FnIII7–10 orientation on charged self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates

In this work, we demonstrate that surface charge can be used to modulate cell adhesion/spreading through the control of the orientation of adsorbed FnIII(7-10), which is a cell-adhesive protein containing RGD residues. Carboxylic acid (COOH) and amine (NH(2))-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates were used as model negatively and positively charged surfaces, respectively. The adsorbed amount of FnIII(7-10) is controlled to be equivalent on both SAMs as confirmed by the adsorption isotherms determined using I(125)-radiolabeled FnIII(7-10.) The binding of a monoclonal antibody specific for the cell-binding domain of FnIII(7-10) was measured by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to evaluate FnIII(7-10) orientations on different SAMs. Results indicate that adsorbed FnIII(7-10) on NH(2)-SAM has an orientation with more cell-binding domains accessible than on COOH-SAM, confirming our predictions from Monte Carlo simulations. Both phase contrast images and Vybrant MTT cell proliferation assays show that the adhesion/spreading of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) on the NH(2)-SAM is significantly better than that on the COOH-SAM coated with an equivalent amount of FnIII(7-10). These results indicate that surface charge can be used to specifically orient cell adhesive proteins such as FnIII(7-10), thus providing a promising strategy to increase the activity of materials incorporating biological moieties.

Fibronectin displacement at polymer surfaces

The interactions of fibronectin with thin polymer films are studied in displacement experiments using human serum albumin. Fibronectin adsorption and exchange on two different maleic anhydride copolymer surfaces differing in hydrophobicity and surface charge density have been analyzed by quartz crystal microbalance and laser scanning microscopy with respect to adsorbed amounts, viscoelastic properties, and conformation. Fibronectin is concluded to become attached onto hydrophilic surfaces as a "softer", less rigid protein layer, in contrast to the more rigid, densely packed layer on hydrophobic surfaces. As a result, the fibronectin conformation is more distorted on the hydrophobic substrates together with remarkably different displacement characteristics in dependence on the adsorbed fibronectin surface concentration and the displacing albumin solution concentration. While the displacement kinetic remains constant for the strongly interacting surface, an acceleration in fibronectin exchange is observed for the weakly interacting surface with increasing fibronectin coverage. For displaced amounts, no change is determined for the hydrophobic substrate, in contrast to the hydrophilic substrate with a decrease of fibronectin exchange with decreasing coverage leading finally to a constant nondisplaceable amount of adsorbed proteins. Furthermore, the variation of the albumin exchange concentration reveals a stronger dependence of the kinetic for the weakly interacting substrate with higher rates at higher albumin concentrations.