Mechanism of inhibition on L929 rat fibroblasts proliferation induced by potential adhesion barrier material poly(p-dioxanone-co-l-phenylalanine) electrospun membranes

Fibroblast plays an important role in the occurrence of postoperative tissue adhesion; materials that have particular "cell-material" interactions to inhibit proliferation of fibroblast will be excellent potential adhesion barriers. In the current study, we synthesized copolymers of p-dioxanone and L-phenylalanine (PDPA) and evaluated the mechanism of its particular inhibition effect on L929 fibroblast proliferation when used as a culture surface. PDPA electrospun membranes could induce apoptosis of L929 fibroblasts. We hypothesized there were two reasons for the apoptosis induction: one was the ability to facilitate cell adhesion of materials, and the other was production of the degradation product, L-phenylalanine. Ninhydrin colorimetric results revealed that L-phenylalanine was continuously released during the culture process and could induce apoptosis in L929 cells. Relatively poor cell adhesion and constant release of L-phenylalanine made PDPA-1 to be the most efficient polymer for the induction of apoptosis. Analysis of apoptosis-related genes revealed that PDPA-induced apoptosis might be performed in a mitochondrial-dependent pathway. But poly(p-dioxanone)-induced apoptosis might occur in a c-Myc independent pathway that was different from PDPA.