Direct and Protein-Mediated Cell Attachment on Differently Terminated Nanocrystalline Diamond

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of wettability on direct and protein-mediated cell-surface interactions. Nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) is chosen as a cell growth substrate, because it offers the possibility to adjust surface properties like roughness or chemical termination, thus realizing hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces. Cell adhesion is studied on NCD films with a defined roughness but different surface chemistries (hydrogen, fluorine, and oxygen terminations) using two different cell lines (LLC-PK1 and PANC-1). They are cultured with and without the addition of fetal bovine serum (FBS) to the growth medium in order to discriminate between direct and mediated cell adhesion. For both cell lines, the cells are not able to adhere to hydrophobic surfaces without the addition of FBS to the growth medium, whereas they can attach in the presence of FBS. Hydrophilic surfaces enable cell attachment with and without the addition of FBS to the medium.