Abstract: In order to investigate the cell activity on the endothelialization surfaces, human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC) were seeded on poly(lactic acid)(PLA), poly(lactide-co-β-malic acid)(PLMA), its derivatives with hydroxyl arms(PLMAHE) and extended carboxyl arms(PLMACA) polymer films on the basis of our preliminary work. The amounts of endothelial nitric oxide synthase(eNOS) and nitric oxide(NO) released by endothelial cells were examined to study the anticoagulant property of endothelial cells adhered on polymer films. The platelet adhesion experiment was carried out to observe the amount and morphology of the platelets adhered on the endothelialization surfaces. The results show that the carboxyl functionalized surfaces have a better cell activity than PLA and PLMAHE, and copolymers with pendant carboxyl arms(PLMACA) could obviously preserve the HUVEC activity on the copolymer films compared with other materials. The amount of eNOS and NO released by HUVEC is (41.8±8.1) μmol/10⁴ cells and (0.76±0.16) U/10⁴ cells, respectively. The scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images demonstrate that endothelial cells adhered on the material surfaces could reduce the platelet adhesion and aggregation effectively. PLMACA also show a good blood compatibility on the exposed surface areas formed by the fallen of endothelial cells adhered on the material surfaces. In conclusion, the copolymer PLMACA is a hopeful material for vessel substitution with good HUVEC compatibility.

Key words: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVEC), Cell Activity, Cell Adhesion, Poly(malic acid)