Efficient cell and cell-sheet harvesting based on smart surfaces coated with a multifunctional and self-organizing elastin-like recombinamer

Biomacromolecules. 2013 Jun 10;14(6):1893-903. doi: 10.1021/bm400268v. Epub 2013 May 14.

Abstract

A wide range of smart surfaces with novel properties relevant for biomedical applications have been developed recently. Herein we focus on thermoresponsive surfaces that switch between cell-adherent and nonadherent states and their applications for cell harvesting. These smart surfaces are obtained by covalently coupling a tailored elastin-like recombinamer onto glass surfaces by means of the well-known and widely applied Click Chemistry methodology. The resulting recombinamer-functionalized surfaces have been characterized by means of water contact angle measurements, XPS and TOF-SIMS. A cell-based analysis of these surfaces with human fibroblasts showed a high degree of adhesion to the surface in its adherent state (37 °C), thus, promoting cell viability and proliferation. A temperature decrease triggers reorganization of the recombinamer, thus, markedly increasing the number of nonadherent domains and masking the adherent ones. This process allows a specific and efficient temporal control of cell adhesion and cell detachment. After determination of the properties required for a suitable cell-harvesting system, optimization of the process allows single cells or cell sheets from at least two types of cells (HFF-1 and ADSCs) to be rapidly harvested.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Elastin / chemistry*
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Humans
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Elastin