title: Polymer brush coatings regulating cell behavior: passive interfaces turn into active.
abstract: Material technology platforms able to modulate the communication with cells at the interface of biomaterials are being increasingly experimented. Progress in the fabrication of supports is simultaneously introducing new surface modification strategies aimed at turning these supports from passive to active components in engineered preparations. Among these platforms, polymer brushes are arising not only as coatings determining the physical and (bio)chemical surface properties of biomaterials, but also as smart linkers between surfaces and biological cues. Their peculiar properties, especially when brushes are synthesized by "grafting-from" methods, enable closer mimicking of the complex and heterogeneous biological microenvironments. Inspired by the growing interest in this field of materials science, we summarize here the most prominent and recent advances in the synthesis of "grafted-from" polymer brush surfaces to modulate the response of adhering cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Tissue Regeneration, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Department of Complex Tissue Regeneration, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Technology of Polymers, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein Gunnewiek
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Technology of Polymers, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands; Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: edmondo.benetti@mat.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Edmondo M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Benetti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006801:Humans; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers
keywords: Biointerfaces; Biomaterials; Cells; Polymer brush; Surface-initiated polymerization