Immobilization of human vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165) onto biomaterials: An evaluation of the biological activity of immobilized VEGF165

Human vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) are angiogenic factors that induce specific endothelial cell proliferation. In this study, VEGF165, which contains 165 amino acids, was immobilized onto poly(acrylic acid) grafted poly(ethylene) films (PAAc-g-PE). VEGF165 was im mobilized via a reaction between the amino group of VEGF165 and the carboxyl group of PAAc using water-soluble carbodiimide. Using cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), adhesion, proliferation, and migration of the cells were evaluated with three kinds of protein that were immobilized on the PE films. The proteins used were collagen (type IV), fibronectin (FN), and VEGF165. The adhesion of HUVEC was enhanced by the immobilization of collagen or FN and by the co-immobilization of VEGF with FN, but not VEGF alone. The VEGF FN-co-immobilized surface showed cell growth promotion activity. Endothelialization was observed only on the collagen-immobilized or VEGF FN-co-immobilized film surfaces. We proposed that the VEGF with FN-co-immobilized biomaterials could be used for artificial vessels and for other tissue engineering scaffolds.