Keratin nanomaterial coating limits epithelial downgrowth around percutaneous devices

Statement of Purpose: Percutaneous medical devices are increasingly common for therapeutic intervention in the treatment of complex and challenging pathologies. Despite the implementation of improved implant designs and skin-implant interface maintenance protocols, there remains no ideal strategy to resolve the mechanical and biochemical disintegration of the skin-implant interface. However, in live animal models, immediate mechanical capture of the skin at the skin-implant interface by porous coated titanium implant surfaces has been shown to decrease regression rates as compared to smooth surfaces. It is believed that the addition of a biomimetic coating that resembles the nail plate (i.e., keratin nanomaterials) could provide biochemically-mediated surfaces for enhancing epidermal cell adhesion, and hence, preventing downgrowth. It was therefore hypothesized that keratin nanomaterial coatings with optimized crystallinity could result in the formation of a physiologically stable, infection-free, non-migratory, skin-to-device interface.