A hydrophobic perfluoropolyether elastomer as a patternable biomaterial for cell culture and tissue engineering

• Published in: Biomaterials 2010-11, Vol.31 (33), p.8583-8595
• Main Authors: Schulte, Vera A, Hu, Yibing, Diez, Mar, Bünger, Daniel, Möller, Martin, Lensen, Marga C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption - drug effects; Advanced Basic Science; Animals; Biocompatible Materials - pharmacology; Cattle; Cell adhesion; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Cell Culture Techniques - methods; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Line; Cell Shape - drug effects; Dentistry; Elastomers - pharmacology; Ethers - pharmacology; Extracellular Matrix - drug effects; Extracellular Matrix - metabolism; Fibroblasts; Fibroblasts - cytology; Fibroblasts - drug effects; Fibronectins - metabolism; Fluorocarbons - pharmacology; Fluoropolymers; Humans; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions - drug effects; Hydrophobicity; Integrin; Integrin alphaVbeta3 - metabolism; Materials Testing; Mice; Micro-patterning; Tissue Engineering - methods
• ISSN: 0142-9612; 1878-5905
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2010.07.070

Abstract We present a systematic study of a perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-based elastomer as a new biomaterial. Besides its excellent long-term stability and inertness, PFPE can be decorated with topographical surface structures by replica molding. Micrometer-sized pillar structures led to considerably different cell morphology of fibroblasts. Although PFPE is a very hydrophobic material we could show that PFPE substrates allow cell adhesion and spreading of primary human fibroblasts (HDF) very similar to that observed on standard cell culture substrates. Less advanced cell spreading was observed for L929 (murine fibroblast cell line) cells during the first 5 h in culture which was accompanied by retarded recruitment of αv β3 -integrin into focal adhesions (FAs). After 24 h distinct FAs were evident also in L929 cells on PFPE. Furthermore, organization of soluble FN into a fibrillar ECM network was shown for hdF and L929 cells. Based on these results PFPE is believed to be a suitable substrate for several biological applications. On the one hand it is an ideal cell culture substrate for fundamental research of substrate-independent adhesion signaling due to its different characteristics (e.g. wettability, elasticity) compared to glass or TCPS. On the other hand it could be a promising implant material, especially due to its straightforward patternability, which is a tool to direct cell growth and differentiation.