Adhesion of Animal Cells on Surfaces

Abstract

The promotion or prevention of cell adhesion on substrates is important for a vast number of applications in the Biomedical and Biotechnology industries. Materials for biomedical devices include metals (Park, 1984, Katz, 1971) (e.g. stainless steels and Titanium for use in orthopaedic prostheses); native polymers (Polyzois et al., 1991, Tighe, 1992) (e.g. silicone rubber and polyethylene); and polymers which have been surface treated with nonbiological (Desai and Hubbell, 1991) or biological molecules such as heparin, urokinase and phosphatidyl choline (Williams, 1992). For any biomedical application the material must firstly and foremostly be non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-immunogenic and nonthrombogenic. In addition, a material may be selected for its ability to either promote or prevent cell addition. For example, contact lenses, urinary tract and vascular prostheses are devices which require the minimal of protein adsorption and cell adhesion. On the other hand, for some orthopaedic implants, cell adhesion is encouraged by the use of surface reactive materials such as hydroxyapatite which promotes strong interfacial binding via collagen secreted by the bone cells (Hench and Wilson, 1984).