Tissue-culture surfaces with mixtures of aminated and fluorinated functional groups. Part 1. Synthesis and...

Surface chemistry of culture dishes can have profound effects on the phenotype of cultured cells. In the present study, chemisorption from aqueous, binary mixtures of organosilanes onto borosilicate glass created surfaces bearing diamine groups (N2), trifluoropropyl groups (F3) and mixtures of the two. Composition of N2-F3 surfaces was controlled by the ratio of monomers in the silanization bath, as confirmed by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis and by conjugation of surface amines with fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate. Atomic-force microscopy revealed that silanized surfaces are patchy, though their root-mean-square roughnesses do not differ significantly from that of smooth glass (0.3 nm). Surfaces richest in diamine residues were the most hydrophilic, with advancing water-contact angles < or = 90 degrees. The accompanying paper (the next article in this issue) describes the effects of these surface chemistries on the phenotype of transgenic insulinoma cells in vitro. We conclude that chemisorption from the N2-F3 system provides a simple, one-pot method for tailoring the chemistry of glass culture surfaces.