Cell death in He La mediated by thermoplastic polyurethane with co-immobilized IFN-γ plus TNF-α

In order to prohibit the toxicity of free IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha in treating human cervical cancer HeLa cells, two kinds of thermoplastic polyurethane (polyester/polyether) biomaterials with co-immobilized IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha on the surfaces are prepared. The programmed cell death of HeLa induced by these biomaterials is investigated. The surface modification of these biomaterials with co-immobilized IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha is performed by the photo-immobilization method, and the surface structures are characterized by various techniques. The cell morphology, cell mortality, cell cycle arrest, and functional status of caspases, upon the treatment by these biomaterials, are characterized. The results show that the as-prepared biomaterials have high inhibition activity against the growth of HeLa cells. The HeLa cells mediated by the two kinds of biomaterials are mainly arrested in the G(1) phase, while those cells mediated directly by free IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha are mainly arrested in the S phase. It is suggested that the programmed cell death mechanism induced by these two kinds of biomaterials is both caspase-dependent and caspase-independent. Our data provide the knowledge of microscopic surface structures and cell biology basis for synthesizing the thermoplastic polyurethane biomaterials with co-immobilized IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha, which are promising for novel therapeutics (e.g. drug cup) design for cervical cancer patients. (C) 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.