Relationship of surface characteristics to cellular attachment in PU and PHEMA

Adhesion characteristics of fibroblastic baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells and epithelial Madine Darby kidney (MDBK) cells on polyurethane (PU) and polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate (PHEMA) based surfaces have been studied. PU surfaces were prepared by a classical solvent-casting procedure of Pellethane solution that contains different types of solvents, i.e., THF, dioxane and their compositions. PHEMA based surfaces were obtained by bulk polymerization of respective comonomers (HEMA, acrylic acid, AA, and dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate, DMAEMA) in the presence of the crosslinker. Thus, a number of polymeric surfaces were obtained with different surface charges (COO- and NH+4) and with different surface free energies in a range between 60-82 ergs/cm2. Surface properties of these membranes were characterized by equilibrium water contents, air and octane contact angles, surface free energies, SEM photographs and ATR-FTIR spectra. Interactions of BHK and MDBK cells with the surfaces were examined in stationary culture conditions which were carried out in MEM supplemented with fetal calf serum. The observations strongly suggested that the chemical and/or physical properties of membrane surface and morphology of the cell control the degree of cell adhesion to the PU and PHEMA based membranes.