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  button  Peptide Derivatized SCK Nanoparticles
  button  Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
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  button  Surface Energy Gradients for Characterizing Cell-Material Interactions
  button  High-throughput Method for Characterizing Cell Response to Polymer Crystallinity
  button   Cellular Response to Bis-GMA/TEGDMA Vinyl Conversion Gradients
button  Metrologies for Tissue Scaffolds
  button  Focal Adhesions of Osteoblasts on Poly(d,l-lactide)/Poly(vinyl alcohol) Blends by Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy
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  button  Development of a Reference Scaffold
  button   In Vitro Cartilage Development
  button   Gene Expression Profiles of Cells in Response to Tyrosine Polycarbonate Blends
  button Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) Microscopic Imaging
  button Collinear Optical Coherence and Confocal Fluorescence Microscopies
 

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Surface Energy Gradients for Characterizing Cell-Material Interactions
 

Introduction

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Surface energy is a fundamental material property that often affects biological interaction. This response may be through a direct cell-material interaction, but more often seems to be an indirect effect where surface energy dictates protein adsorption which subsequently dictates cell response. Thus, we have developed rapid methods for characterizing cell response to variations in surface energy in order to gain a better understanding of the relationships between surface energy, protein adsorption and cell behavior.
 

Experimental Approach

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An automated stage was used to move silanized glass slides beneath a UV lamp such that the ends of the slide are exposed to the light for varying amounts of time. UV exposure causes oxidation on the surface of the slide such that a longer exposure results in a more hydrophilic surface. Gradients that range in water contact angles from 30? to 90? from end to end can be created on a single slide and cell response to these gradients has been examined. The development of these methods for creating surface energy gradients provides us with a unique tool which can be used to probe the fundamental correlations between cell response and the surface energy of a material.
 

Results
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Contact angle (water in air) of 15 gradient specimens.
Contact angle (water in air) of 15 gradient specimens.
Cells (MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts) proliferated faster on hydrophobic areas than on hydrophilic areas. Plot labels correspond to contact angle.
Cells (MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts) proliferated faster on hydrophobic areas than on hydrophilic areas. Plot labels correspond to contact angle.
Cell proliferation was directly proportional to surface energy. Exponential factors from the fitted curves (from previous figure above) plotted against contact angle produced a straight line.
Cell proliferation was directly proportional to surface energy. Exponential factors from the fitted curves (from previous figure above) plotted against contact angle produced a straight line.
 

Future Activities

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Surface energy gradients could potentially be used for quality control screening of cell stocks intended for human implantation. Cell behavior on the gradients could be established and used as a benchmark. The behavior of different batches of cells could then be evaluated on the gradients as an indicator that they have not transformed, mutated or lost their phenotype.
 

Publications
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  • PAPER: Kennedy SB, Mei Y, Gross R, Washburn NR, Amis EJ. (2005) Cell response on surface energy gradients. Biomaterials, in preparation.
  • POSTER: Kennedy SB, Mei Y, Gross R, Washburn NR, Amis EJ. (2003) Quantifying cell response to materials through population analyses enabled by high-throughput techniques. Society for Biomaterials 29th Annual Meeting, Reno, NV.
  • POSTER: Simon Jr CG, Kennedy SB, Amis EJ, Eidelman N, Washburn NR. “Gradient Libraries for Combinatorial and High-Throughput Investigations of Polymeric Biomaterials”, 7th World Biomaterials Congress, Australia, 2004.
  • POSTER: Simon Jr CG, Kennedy SB, Amis EJ, Eidelman N, Washburn NR. “High-throughput Methods for Biomaterials Development”, NIST Combinatorial Methods Center 4th Annual Meeting, Gaithersburg, MD, 2003.
  • POSTER: Simon Jr CG, Kennedy SB, Amis EJ, Eidelman N, Washburn NR. “High-throughput Methods for Biomaterials Development”, Symposium on Metrology and Standards for Cell Signaling, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, 2003.
  • POSTER: Simon Jr CG, Kennedy SB, Amis EJ, Eidelman N, “Washburn NR. High-throughput Methods for Biomaterials Development”, RESBIO Kickoff Even, Rutgers University, NJ 2003.
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    NIST Contributors:

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    Scott B. Kennedy
    Ying Mei
    Eric J. Amis
    Newell R. Washburn
     

    Collaborators:
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    Richard Gross (Polytechnic University)
     
     
     
     
    		 
    		 
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    Polymers Division
    Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory
     
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