Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Design of Biointerfaces for Regenerative
Medicine
Yusuke Arima, Koichi Kato, Yuji Teramura, and Hiroo Iwata
Abstract Understanding and controlling biological responses against artificial
materials is important for the development of medical devices and therapies.
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols provide well-defined surfaces
that can be manipulated by varying the terminal functional groups. Thus, SAMs
have been extensively used as a platform for studying how artificial materials affect
biological responses. Here, we review cell adhesion behavior in response to SAMs
with various surface properties and the effects that adsorbed proteins have on
subsequent cell adhesion. We also describe an application for SAMs as a substrate
for culturing neural stem cells (NSCs). Substrates that induced the correct orienta-
tion of immobilized growth factors, like epidermal growth factor, improved the
selection of a pure NSC population during cell expansion. In addition, we review
new methodologies for using amphiphilic polymers to modify the surfaces of
cells and tissues. Coating the cell surface with amphiphilic polymers that can
capture and immobilize bioactive substances or cells represents a promising
approach for clinical applications, particularly cellular therapies.
Keywords Amphiphilic polymer
Cell adhesion
Chimeric protein
Islet of
Langerhans
Self-assembled monolayer
Stem cell
Y. Arima, K. Kato, Y. Teramura, and H. Iwata (
*
)
Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, 53 Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Shogoin,
Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
e-mail:
iwata@frontier.kyoto-u.ac.jp
K. Kato
Present address: Department of Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences,
Hiroshima University, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8553, Japan
Y. Teramura
Present address: Department of Immunology,, Genetics and Pathology (IGP), Uppsala University,
Rudbecklab C5, 3rd floor, Dag Hammarskjoldsv 20, 751 85 Uppsala, Sweden
