Chitosan patterning on titanium implants

[EN] Titanium and its alloys are widely used in medical implants because of their excellent properties. However, bacterial infection is a frequent cause of titanium-based implant failure and also compromises its osseointegration. In this study, we report a new simple method of providing titanium surfaces with antibacterial properties by alternating antibacterial chitosan domains with titanium domains in the micrometric scale. Surface micro grooves were etched on pure titanium disks at intervals of 60 pm using a modified 3D printer and were then coated with chitosan antibacterial polysaccharide. The dimensions of the patterned microgrooves made it possible to fix the chitosan domains to the titanium substrate without the need for covalent bonding. These domains were stable after 5 days of immersion in water and reduced the surface contact angle. Preliminary cell adhesion assays demonstrated that MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts preferentially adhered to the titanium regions, while C2C12 myoblasts were uniformly distributed over the whole surface.The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the MAT2016-76039-C4-1-R Project (including Feder funds). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R & D & I Plan 2008-2011, "IniciativaIngenio 2010", Consolider Program. GIBER actions are financed by the "Institute de Salud Carlos III" with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. CR, SR and DMC are grateful to the FCT, POPH/FSE for the SFRH/BPD/90870/2012, SFRH/BD/111478/2015 and SFRH/BD/82411/2011 grants, respectively. The authors acknowledge the assistance and advice of the Electron Microscopy Service of the UPV. We are also indebted to Dionisio Garcia Garcia and Jose Garcia Anton of the "Institute de Seguridad Industrial Radiofisica y Medio Ambiental" of the UPV for their assistance with the scanning confocal laser microscopyGilabert-Chirivella, E.; Pérez-Feito, R.; Ribeiro, C.; Ribeiro, S.; Correia, DM.; González-Martín, ML.; Manero, JM.... (2017). Chitosan patterning on titanium implants. Progress in Organic Coatings. 111:23-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.porgcoat.2017.04.027232811