title: Human osteoblast cell spreading and vinculin expression upon biomaterial surfaces.
abstract: Any biomaterial implanted within the human body is influenced by the interactions that take place between its surface and the surrounding biological milieu. These interactions are known to influence the tissue interface dynamic, and thus act to emphasize the need to study cell-surface interactions as part of any biomaterial design process. The work described here investigates the relationship between human osteoblast attachment, spreading and focal contact formation on selected surfaces using immunostaining and digital image processing for vinculin, a key focal adhesion component. Our observations show that a relationship exists between levels of cell attachment, the degree of vinculin-associated plaque formation and biocompatibility. It also suggests that cell adhesion is not indicative of how supportive a substrate is to cell spreading, and that cell spreading does not correlate with focal contact formation.
authors.affiliation: NUS Tissue Engineering Program (NUSTEP), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. biewma@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: Maria Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Woodruff
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Farrar
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: Colin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Scotchford
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002858:Chromium Alloys / Q000494:pharmacology; D017886:Durapatite / Q000494:pharmacology; D022001:Focal Adhesions / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D013193:Stainless Steel / Q000494:pharmacology; D013997:Time Factors; D014025:Titanium / Q000494:pharmacology; D016596:Vinculin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002858:Chromium Alloys; D016596:Vinculin; D013193:Stainless Steel; C041500:titanium nitride; D017886:Durapatite; D014025:Titanium