Modern biomedical devices require a subtle control of the interaction pathways of biointerfaces with species in their environment. The precise control of the cell adhesion plays a prominent role among these interactions. Many approaches ask for certain chemical or physical surface properties but also require a spatial control of cell adhesion and special topological features. In our work we concentrate on the development of tailor-made polymeric coatings that can be micro and nanostructured in two or three dimensions. The resulting surface architectures are then used to control cells in many different ways. One example is to generate surfaces which are either cell attractive or cell repellent. The latter situation is achieved if the protein adsorption from the environment is prevented. Such surfaces are bioinert and even blood platelets don't adsorb on them. A combination of such coatings with specific recognition sequences allows for the capture of rare cells in a background of abundant other cells. Such capture devices are interesting tools e.g. for cancer diagnosis. Finally, responsive materials can used to generate initially cell-attractive surfaces from which cell lawns can be released upon a specific trigger (see Figure).

Ultrathin polymer coatings for the control of cell-surface interactions

251st National Meeting (2016)

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