Adsorbed serum protein mediated adhesion and growth behavior of bovine aortic endothelial cells on polyamine graft copolymer surfaces.

Polyamine-brushed substrata for cell culture were designed by solvent casting of polystyrene-graft-polyamine copolymer (SA) on hydrophobically modified glass surface, and adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) on these substrata were evaluated. Adhesion and spreading of BAEC increased with increasing polyamine content in the copolymer. Close correlation was found between cellular spreading and subsequent cell growth; the surface inducing better spreading of adhered cells showed higher endothelial cell growth. Adhesion and spreading of BAEC were significantly influenced by fetal calf serum (FCS)-pretreatment of the SA copolymer surfaces, being increased with increasing polyamine content, whereas on bovine serum albumin (BSA)-preabsorbed surfaces, BAEC adhesion was considerably prevented and eventually no cell spreading was observed. Then, adsorption of cell-adhesion proteins, fibronectin (FN), and vitronectin (VN), out of FCS onto SA copolymer surfaces were evaluated using enzyme immunoassay. Both FN and VN adsorption on SA copolymer surfaces were increased with increasing polyamine content in the copolymer, suggesting a crucial role of these cell-adhesion proteins in BAEC adhesion and subsequent growth behavior on SA copolymer surfaces.