Interaction of Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells with Cobalt–Chromium Alloy Surfaces Coated with Paclitaxel Deposited Self-Assembled Monolayers

The use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a polymer-free platform to deliver an antiproliferative drug, paclitaxel (PAT), from a stent material cobalt-chromium (CoCr) alloy has been previously demonstrated. In this study, the interaction of human aortic endothelial cells (ECs) and human aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) with CoCr alloy surfaces coated with SAMs- (SAMs-CoCr) and PAT-deposited SAMs (PAT-SAMs-CoCr) was investigated. A polished CoCr with no coatings was used as a control. The viability, proliferation, morphology, and phenotype of ECs and SMCs were investigated on these samples. SAMs-CoCr significantly enhanced the growth of ECs. Also, the ECs were well spreading with its typical morphological features and showed stronger PECAM-1 expression on SAMs-CoCr. This showed that the SAMs-CoCr surface is conducive to endothelialization. For PAT-SAMs-CoCr, although the adhesion of ECs was lower, the cells continued to proliferate with some degree of spreading and limited PECAM-1 expression. For SMCs, a significant decrease in the cell proliferation was observed on SAMs-CoCr when compared with that of Control-CoCr. PAT-SAMs-CoCr showed maximum inhibitory effect on the proliferation of SMCs. Also, the SMCs on PAT-SAMs-CoCr displayed a poorly spread discoid morphology with disarranged α-actin filaments. This showed that the PAT released from the SAMs platform successfully inhibited the growth of SMCs. Thus, this study showed the interaction of ECs and SMCs with SAMs-CoCr and PAT-SAMs-CoCr for potential uses in stents and other cardiovascular medical devices.