Cell adhesion on supported lipid bilayers

The cell and protein repellent properties of supported phospholipid bilayer (SPB) membranes were investigated. The SPBs were prepared by vesicle adsorption on SiO(2) surfaces. The vesicles of phosphatidylcholine fuse and rupture, and form a supported bilayer covering the surface. We carried out cell culture experiments on several surfaces, including SPBs, using two types of epithelial cells to address the cell adhesional properties. The Quartz Crystal Microbalance Dissipation (QCM-D) technique was used to monitor the SPB formation and subsequent protein adsorption. Neither cell type adhered or proliferated on SiO(2) surfaces coated with SPBs, whereas both cell types adhered and proliferated on the three control surfaces of SiO(2), tissue culture glass, and TiO(2). The QCM-D measurements showed that about two orders of magnitude less mass adsorbed on a SPB surface compared to a TiO(2) surface, from serum-containing media (10% fetal bovine serum). The reduced adsorption on the SPB is a likely explanation for the nondetectable epithelial cell adhesion on the SPB surface. Biomembranes are therefore attractive candidate systems to achieve alternating cell-resistant and cell-interacting regions on surfaces, by including specific cell-binding proteins in the latter regions.