The morphological and biomechanical changes of keratocytes cultured on modified p (HEMA-MMA) hydrogel studied by AFM.
The poor integration with host cornea tissue and the low mechanical properties of pHEMA hydrogel for artificial cornea remains a difficult problem to solve. A modified pHEMA hydrogel, MMA copolymerized and type-I collagen and bFGF immobilized, was previously prepared in an attempt to solve the problems. In this study, the cytotoxicity of Col/bFGF-p (HEMA-MMA) and p (HEMA-MMA) was studied by cell adhesion assay and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results of cell adhesion assay show that the attachment of keratocytes on the modified membrane is much higher than that of the unmodified membrane. This indicates that the material after modification have better cell-material interaction. The AFM images reveal that the morphology of keratocytes cultured on different substrate is obviously different. The cell cultured on modified membrane presented a completely elongated and spindle-shape morphology. The force-distance indicates that the biomechanical of keratocytes changes significantly after culturing on different substrates. The adhesion force (2328+/-523 pN) and Young's modulus (0.51+/-0.125 kPa) of the cell cultured on modified membrane are much higher, and the stiffness (0.08+/-0.022 mN/m) is lower than those of the cell cultured on unmodified membrane. These results show that the cytotoxicity of Col/bFGF-p (HEMA-MMA) for keratocytes is much improved.
Yan
Tuo
T
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Sun
Rong
R
Deng
Hua
H
Tan
Baihua
B
Ao
Ningjian
N
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D048430:Cell Shape; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000633:toxicity*; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008768:Methylmethacrylates / Q000633:toxicity*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate / Q000633:toxicity*; D011817:Rabbits
D008768:Methylmethacrylates; D011102:Polyhydroxyethyl Methacrylate; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; C040206:HTR composite