Cell proliferation on stereoregular isotactic-poly(propylene oxide) as a bulk substrate.

Stereoregular isotactic-poly(propylene oxide) (it-PPO) was investigated for use as a biomaterial surface. The conventional characteristic of nonstereoregular atactic PPO was altered to a hydrophobic solid nature (contact angle: 95.6 ± 3.8°), which resulted in the potential solid surface applications. The high crystallinity of it-PPO created both smooth and microsized, random crater-shaped surfaces using the spin coating and dip coating approaches, respectively. The results of protein adsorption with bovine serum albumin (BSA), bovine gamma globulin (BγG), and bovine plasma fibrinogen (BPF) showed multilayered adsorption onto it-PPO. Mouse fibroblast L929 cells adhered onto the it-PPO surfaces, and cultured well as compared with commercially available Cell Desk LF1 as a control surface. These unique physical characteristics of it-PPO were due to the configuration of the polymer chain backbone structure, which maintained the polyether chemical structure.