Hydrophobic fractal surface from glycerol tripalmitate and the effects on C6 glioma cell growth

To provide a biomimic environment for glial cell culture, glycerol tripalmitate (PPP) has been used as a raw material to prepare fractal surfaces with different degrees of hydrophobicity. The spontaneous formation of the hydrophobic fractal surfaces was monitored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The surface morphologies were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and then the fractal dimension (FD) values of the surfaces were determined with the box-counting method. C6 glioma cells were cultured and compared on different hydrophobic PPP surfaces and poly-L-lysine (PLL)-coated surface. The cell numbers as a function of incubation time on different surfaces during the cell proliferation process were measured, and the cell morphologies were observed under a fluorescence microscope. Influences of hydrophobic fractal surfaces on the cell number and morphology were analyzed. The experimental results show that the cell proliferation rates decrease while the cell morphology complexities increase with the growth of the fractal dimensions of the PPP surfaces.