Modulation of Living Cell Behavior with Ultra‐Low Fouling Polymer Brush Interfaces

• Published in: Macromolecular bioscience 2020-03, Vol.20 (3), p.e1900351-n/a
• Main Authors: Víšová, Ivana, Smolková, Barbora, Uzhytchak, Mariia, Vrabcová, Markéta, Zhigunova, Yulia, Houska, Milan, Surman, František, los Santos Pereira, Andres, Lunov, Oleg, Dejneka, Alexandr, Vaisocherová‐Lísalová, Hana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acrylamide; antifouling; Biomedical materials; Brush plating; Cell Line, Tumor; Cells (biology); cell–surface interactions; Coated Materials, Biocompatible - chemistry; Coated Materials, Biocompatible - pharmacology; Coatings; Cytoskeleton; Cytoskeleton - metabolism; Fouling; Humans; Hydration; Interfaces; living cells; Materials Testing; Methacrylamide; Modulation; Physicochemical properties; Platforms; Polymers; Polymers - chemistry; Polymers - pharmacology; Surface charge; surface modification; Wettability; zwitterionic polymer
• ISSN: 1616-5187; 1616-5195
• DOI: 10.1002/mabi.201900351

Ultra‐low fouling and functionalizable coatings represent emerging surface platforms for various analytical and biomedical applications such as those involving examination of cellular interactions in their native environments. Ultra‐low fouling surface platforms as advanced interfaces enabling modulation of behavior of living cells via tuning surface physicochemical properties are presented and studied. The state‐of‐art ultra‐low fouling surface‐grafted polymer brushes of zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine acrylamide), nonionic poly(N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide), and random copolymers of carboxybetaine methacrylamide (CBMAA) and HPMAA [p(CBMAA‐co‐HPMAA)] with tunable molar contents of CBMAA and HPMAA are employed. Using a model Huh7 cell line, a systematic study of surface wettability, swelling, and charge effects on the cell growth, shape, and cytoskeleton distribution is performed. This study reveals that ultra‐low fouling interfaces with a high content of zwitterionic moieties (>65 mol%) modulate cell behavior in a distinctly different way compared to coatings with a high content of nonionic HPMAA. These differences are attributed mostly to the surface hydration capabilities. The results demonstrate a high potential of carboxybetaine‐rich ultra‐low fouling surfaces with high hydration capabilities and minimum background signal interferences to create next‐generation bioresponsive interfaces for advanced studies of living objects. The ultra‐low fouling coating effects on behavior of living cells are reported in this study. It is shown that ultra‐low fouling interfaces with a high content of zwitterionic moieties (>65 mol%) modulate cell behavior completely differently compared to nonionic coatings. These differences are attributed mostly to the surface hydration capabilities. The results demonstrate a high potential of carboxybetaine‐rich brushes to create next‐generation bioresponsive platforms.