Significance
Implanted biomaterials elicit a complex series of tissue and cellular responses, termed the foreign body response (FBR), that can be influenced by the polarization state of macrophages. Surface topography can influence polarization, which is broadly characterized as either inflammatory or repair-like. The latter has been linked to improved outcomes of the FBR. However, the impact of topography on macrophage polarization is not fully understood, in part, due to a lack of high moduli biomaterials that can be reproducibly processed at the nanoscale. Here, we studied macrophage interactions with nanopatterned bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), a class of metallic alloys with amorphous microstructure and formability like polymers. We show that nanopatterned BMGs modulate macrophage polarization and transiently induce less fibrotic and more angiogenic responses. Overall, we demonstrate nanopatterning of BMG implants as a technique to polarize macrophages and modulate the FBR.
Statement of significance
Implanted biomaterials elicit a complex series of tissue and cellular responses, termed the foreign body response (FBR), that can be influenced by the polarization state of macrophages. Surface topography can influence polarization, which is broadly characterized as either inflammatory or repair-like. The latter has been linked to improved outcomes of the FBR. However, the impact of topography on macrophage polarization is not fully understood, in part, due to a lack of high moduli biomaterials that can be reproducibly processed at the nanoscale. Here, we studied macrophage interactions with nanopatterned bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), a class of metallic alloys with amorphous microstructure and formability like polymers. We show that nanopatterned BMGs modulate macrophage polarization and transiently induce less fibrotic and more angiogenic responses. Overall, we demonstrate nanopatterning of BMG implants as a technique to polarize macrophages and modulate the FBR.