Adhesion and Proliferation of Human Adipo-Stromal Cells for Two- or Three-Dimensional Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Substrates with or without RGD Immobilization

The adhesion and proliferation of human adipo-stromal cells was investigated for poly(ethylene terephthalete) (PET) films of two-dimensional (2D) substrate and non-woven fabrics of three-dimensional (3D) substrate after seeding at the same cell density and culturing at the same medium volume to surface area of the substrates ratio. When seeded by a static seeding method, more cells adhered on the film than on the non-woven fabric. However, the number ratio of cells proliferated to those initially adhered was similar. For the non-woven fabric, cell proliferation was enhanced by an agitated culture method. NaOH treatment introduced carboxyl groups into the surface of substrates, irrespective of the substrate type. Cell adhesion of a peptide (Arg-Gly-Asp, RGD) was chemically immobilized through the carboxyl groups on the non-woven fabric surface at a density of 10 pmol/cm(2). RGD immobilization significantly increased the number of cells adhered after the agitated seeding method, but did not affect the cell proliferation. Phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) was also enhanced by the RGD immobilization on the PET non-woven fabrics. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009