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Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Stabilizing Hepatocellular Phenotype Using Optimized Synthetic Surfaces
Published on: September 26, 2014
Galactose derivative immobilized glow discharge processed polyethersulfone membranes maintain the liver cell
Loredana De Bartolo1, Sabrina Morelli, Maria Rende
1Institute on Membrane Technology, National Research Council of Italy, ITM-CNR, c/o University of Calabria, via P Bucci cubo 17/C, 87030 Rende (CS), Italy.
Abstract:
New strategies aimed to surface modification of polymeric membranes are crucial to optimise cell-biomaterial interactions in vivo and in vitro biohybrid systems. In this paper, we investigated the surface modification of Polyethersulfone (PES) membranes by plasma polymerisation of acrylic acid monomers (PES-pdAA) and by immobilization of galactonic acid through a hydrophilic "spacer arm" molecule (PES-pdAA-SA-GAL). The modification steps were characterised by high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The performance of modified and unmodified membranes was evaluated by assessing the expression of liver specific biotransformation functions of pig and human hepatocytes. Human liver cells cultured on PES-pdAA-SA-GAL membranes displayed an enhanced albumin production, urea synthesis and protein secretion for 24 days of culture. The immobilisation of galactose derivative units on the membrane allowed specific interactions with hepatocytes biomimicking the cellular microenvironment and produced an improvement of the long-term maintenance and differentiation of human hepatocytes.
