Cell Attachment and Detachment of PaTu 8988t and PaTu 8988s Cell Lines Using Thermoresponsive Homopolymer Layers

Author(s): Kausain Akther, Md Al Amin, Aminul Islam, S M Tamjidul Islam, Monira Akter Monisha, Anika Zafreen

Polymer brushes such as poly (diethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (PDEGMA) are known to prevent protein adsorption and cell attachment to surfaces treated with initiators such as w-mercaptoundecyl bromoisobutyrate (MUBiB). They have been found out to display thermoresponsive behavior, which can be tuned by changing the thickness of the polymer brush or altering its grafting density. PDEGMA brushes with a dry ellipsometric thickness of 5.00 ± 1.00 nm change from cell adherent at 37°C to cell non-adherent at 22°C. On the other hand, the irreversible adsorption of fibronectin to the gold surfaces is also dependent on temperature changes, which in turn affects the adhesion properties of the cells even more. PDEGMA brushes swell below its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) due to the absence of paxillin and action containing cellular structures which are responsible for the adhesion of cells. These characteristics of thin homopolymer PDEGMA brushes make them an interesting constituent for enzyme-free culture of cells such as PaTu 8988t and PaTu 8988s.