Evaluation of endothelial cell adherence onto collagen and fibronectin:: A comparison between jet impingement and flow chamber techniques

The study of the cell-biomaterial interface has been revolutionized by the understanding of molecular mechanisms and signaling cascades between living cells and their environment. A successful biomaterial is a product of sound knowledge of the material surface and molecular cell biology sciences, which allow us to establish accurate control of the interfacial interactions needed for biospecificity. To improve the cell-biomaterial interactions, we have functionalized polystyrene, which is a biomaterial commonly used for vascular implants, by adhesion proteins such as fibronectin and collagen. Cell adhesion remains an important goal of this study. This critical phenomenon that controls cell behavior was evaluated by two different techniques. We used a parallel plate flow chamber and jet impingement, which are effective and complementary devices for evaluating the strength of cell adhesion to the surface. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.