Abstract:
Functionalized biomaterials interface with tissue upon implantation. There is a growing need to understand how
materials properties influence this interaction so that efficient tissue engineering systems can be developed. In
this study, we characterize collagen organization in response to functionalized glass beads implanted in SKH1-E
mice. Poly-L-arginine (PLR) was modified with arginine derivatives to create a functionalized surface and was
coated on glass beads. Tissue sections were removed 28 days post-implantation and were imaged using second
harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. These chemical modifications were able to alter the collagen dis tribution from highly aligned to disordered (17 ± 6 to 78 ± 1° full width at half-maximum (FWHM)) and the
collagen III/I ratio (0.02 to 0.42). Principal component analysis (PCA) comparing the physical properties of the
modifiers (e.g. hydrophobicity, molar volume, freely rotating bonds, polarizability) with the SHG analytically
derived parameters (e.g. collagen III/I ratio, collagen orientation) was performed. Chemical properties of the
PLR-like modifications including lipophilicity, along with the number of freely rotating bonds and the polar izability had significant effects on the collagen surrounding the implant, both in terms of collagen orientation as
well as the production of collagen III. These findings demonstrate the possibility of tuning the foreign body
response, in terms of collagen deposition and organization, to positively influence the acceptance of implanted
biomaterials.