Thin Polyelectrolyte Films For Controlled Surface-Cell Interactions

描述（由申请人提供）：当合成或天然材料（如用于植入物和组织工程的材料）与生命系统接触时，它们会在细胞和细胞外基质中诱导特异性或一般性反应。已知细胞对它们粘附的表面的化学性质和机械性质都有反应。该项目将探索用于调节细胞粘附和控制细胞行为的新薄膜。在这项工作中，蛋白质和细胞粘附到由多层膜技术制成的多层膜将进行研究。该研究涉及新聚合物的合成，它们的组装，以及细胞对这些合成材料的反应的协调评估。将官能团引入聚合物中以控制亲水性和交联。将在膜表面的细胞外基质和膜内部呈现的非特异性化学之间进行区分，这将影响机械性能。这种区别的目的是分离非特异性蛋白质吸附和膜模块诱导的细胞反应的细胞粘附，分化和增殖的贡献。这三组相互交错的目标呈现出生物系统反馈水平的不断提高。我们的目标是先制造一个最低粘性的背景表面，然后我们用精确水平的促粘蛋白“掺杂”它。我们继续着眼于控制细胞和基质之间的化学和物理相互作用。部分由假设驱动，部分由对生物界面新材料的探索驱动，我们对细胞组织如何响应广泛的化学和物理线索感兴趣。新奇之处包括新的材料组合物，迁移的一个有前途的技术的生物界面，交联的方法，并形成梯度的机械性能在平面上的膜。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): When synthetic or natural materials, such as those used in implants and tissue engineering, come in contact with living systems, they induce specific or general responses in cells and the extracellular matrix. Cells are known to respond to both the chemistry and the mechanical properties of the surface to which they adhere. This project will explore new thin films for regulating cell adhesion and controlling cell behavior. In this work, protein and cell adhesion to ultrathin films made by the polyelectrolyte multilayering technique will be investigated. The study involves the synthesis of new polymers, their assembly, and a coordinated evaluation of the response of cells to these synthetic materials. Functional groups will be introduced into the polymers to control hydrophilicity and crosslinking. Distinction will be made between the nonspecific chemistry presented to the extracellular matrix at the surface of the film, and the film interior, which will impact the mechanical properties. The purpose of this distinction is to separate contributions of nonspecific protein adsorption and film modulus-induced cellular responses to cell adhesion, differentiation, and proliferation. The three interleaving groups of Aims present increasing levels of feedback with biological systems. We start with a goal of producing a minimally adhesive background surface, then we "dope" it with precise levels of adhesion-promoting protein. We continue with an eye towards controlled chemical and physical interactions between cells and substrates. Driven partly by hypothesis and partly by a quest for new materials at the biointerface, we are interested in how cellular organization responds to broad chemical and physical cues. Points of novelty include new materials compositions, migration of a promising technology to the biointerface, methods of crosslinking, and forming gradients in mechanical properties in the plane of the film.