Effects of Various Cell Surface Engineering Reactions on the Biological Behavior of Mammalian Cells

Cell surface engineering technologies can regulate cell function and behavior by modifying the cell surface. Previous studies have mainly focused on investigating the effects of cell surface engineering reactions and materials on cell activity. However, they do not comprehensively analyze other cellular processes. This study exploits covalent bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and electrostatic interactions to modify the macromolecules succinimide ester-methoxy polyethylene glycol (NHS-mPEG), distearoyl phosphoethanolamine-methoxy polyethylene glycol (DSPE-mPEG), and poly-L-lysine (PLL), respectively, on the cell surface. This work systematically investigates the effects of the three surface engineering reactions on the behavior of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human skin fibroblasts, including viability, growth, proliferation, cell cycle, adhesion, and migration. The results reveals that the PLL modification method notably affects cell viability and G2/M arrest and has a short modification duration. However, the DSPE-mPEG and NHS-mPEG modification methods have little effect on cell viability and proliferation but have a prolonged modification duration. Moreover, the DSPE-mPEG modification method highly affects cell adherence. Further, the NHS-mPEG modification method can significantly improve the migration ability of HUVECs by reducing the area of focal adhesions. The findings of this study will contribute to the application of cell surface engineering technology in the biomedical field.