Coating of Material Surfaces with Layer-by- Layer Assembled Polyelectrolyte Films - Biological and Biomedical Coatings: Processing and Characterization - page 335

via PEM films. Overall, the possibilities for using a wide range of polyelectrolytes and
nano-objects combined with the advantages offered by PEM coatings, such as spatial con-
finement and localized delivery, as well as protective effects on exposure to physiological
media and external stresses, considerably enrich the biological applications for PEM films.
Several reviews that include the biological field have been published in the past 3 years.
They concern either the internal structure of the films (Jaber and Schlenoff 2006; Schönhoff
et al. 2007; Sukhishvili et al. 2006; von Klitzing 2006) or the applications of PEM films at the
nanoscale (Hammond 2004). These applications can be for controlled erosion (Lynn 2007),
protein inspired nanofilms (Zhang et al. 2007), polyelectrolyte blends (Quinn et al. 2007),
and biomedical applications including drug delivery, biosensors, biomimetism, and tissue
engineering (Tang et al. 2006). In this chapter, we focus our attention on the design of PEM
films for biomaterial surface coatings and tissue engineering. We provide a global view of
the biological applications for PEM films as a template for tissue mimetism and as bioma-
terial coatings that have been achieved within the past 5 years. This includes a survey of
the physical and chemical properties that have emerged as key points for controlling film
nanostructure in relation to biological processes. We also include the different possibilities
for controlling cell behavior via film composition, bioactivity, mechanical properties, and
spatiotemporal or three-dimensional organization (Figure 8.1). We focus on supported LbL
films, although other forms, such as membranes and capsules, also show great promise
for biomedical applications. In particular, PEM-based films are widely explored and have
already been the subject of several reviews (De Geest et al. 2007; Sukhorukov et al. 2005;
Sukhorukov et al. 2007). However, the field of biosensors, which is very wide, will not be
evoked because of space constraints.

Raw materials

Fabrication methods

LbL film
- Chemical properties
- Internal structure
- Mechanical properties
- 2D and 3D structuration

Spatiotemporal control
- Biodegradability
- Micropatterns

Cellular interactions
- Adhesion, proliferation
- Differentiation

Bioactivity, biomimetism
(peptides, ECM proteins,
glycosaminoglycans, morphogens,
nanoparticles, etc.)

Coating of biomaterials
In vitro, in vivo studies

FIGURE 8.1
Scheme of different levels of controls that can lead to LbL films (also called polyelectrolyte multilayer films)
with defined functionalities. One of their numerous potential applications is in the field of biomaterials and
tissue engineering. (Reproduced with permission from Boudou et al., Adv. Mater. , 21, 1-27, 2009. Copyright
Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA 2010.)