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Design and Evaluation of a Novel Flow Chamber for Measuring Cell Adhesion to Absorbable Polymer Films
Author(s) -
Renshaw Kelly M.,
Orr David E.,
Burg Karen J. L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1021/bp049664t
Subject(s) - adhesion , polymer , flow (mathematics) , cell adhesion , materials science , biomedical engineering , chemistry , composite material , engineering , physics , mechanics
Abstract There is great interest in improving cellular attachment to synthetic materials, particularly for developing small diameter tissue‐engineered vascular grafts. However, limited research has been conducted to evaluate the adhesion characteristics of different cell types to absorbable substrates. Tissue engineered vessels typically fail as a result of delamination of the endothelial cell layer when exposed to fluid or blood flow. The focus of this research was to design and evaluate a flow chamber, using fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells, to probe the bounds of the system. A flow chamber was designed and fabricated to compare the relative adhesion characteristics of cells to absorbable polymer films. A preliminary investigation of mouse fibroblast (3T3M) adhesion to semicrystalline poly‐ l ‐lactide (PLL) films was conducted to determine general operating specifications. Cell coverage on films was evaluated using a live‐dead assay and image analysis; following exposure to flow, tests were similarly conducted. Based on these results, additional studies were conducted to compare the adhesion of rat aortic smooth muscle cells (SMC) and endothelial cells (EC) on PLL films.