Tunable catalytic release of nitric oxide via copper-loaded coatings on titanium nanotubes for regulating biological performance

Severe lesions in vessels need to be treated with implantable interventional devices such as vascular stents, which should be anti-coagulantion, anti-proliferation and promoting endothelialisation. Nitric oxide (NO), as a physiological gas signalling molecule, play an important role in revascularisation. Catalysing the release of NO from endogenous donors has already been widely favoured to treatment strategy for lesioned vessels. In this work, a series of copper-loaded coatings (titanium nanotube (TNT)/PDA-Cu) was fabricated by TNTs combined with polydopamine and ions, which achieve controlled in situ catalytic release of NO. This strategy could effectively immobilised copper ions on TNTs, and promoted the proliferation of endothelial cells and inhibited growth of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) via the performance of NO, as well as restrain the platelet adhesion. With the multiple function, TNT/PDA-Cu provides a promise approach for promoting endothelialisation, anti-coagulation and inhibition of SMC proliferation via copper-loaded coatings on TNTs.