title: Combinatorial MAPLE gradient thin film assemblies signalling to human osteoblasts.
abstract: There is increased interest in smart bioactive materials to control tissue regeneration for the engineering of cell instructive scaffolds. We introduced combinatorial matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (C-MAPLE) as a new method for the fabrication of organic thin films with a compositional gradient. Synchronized C-MAPLE of levan and oxidized levan was employed to assemble a two-compound biopolymer film structure. The gradient of the film composition was validated by fluorescence microscopy. In this study, we investigated the cell response induced by the compositional gradient using imaging of early osteoblast attachment and analysis of signalling phosphoprotein expression. Cells attached along the gradient in direct proportion to oxidized levan concentration. During this process distinct areas of the binary gradient have been shown to modulate the osteoblasts' extracellular signal-regulated kinase signalling with different propensity. The proposed fabrication method results in the preparation of a new bioactive material, which could control the cell signalling response. This approach can be extended to screen new bioactive interfaces for tissue regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Lasers Department, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 409 Atomistilor Street, Magurele, Ilfov RO-77125, Romania.
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Axente
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sima
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Elena Sima
authors.forename: Merve
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erginer
authors.forename: Mehmet S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Eroglu
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Serban
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ristoscu
authors.forename: Stefana M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Petrescu
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Toksoy Oner
authors.forename: Ion N
authors.initials: IN
authors.lastname: Mihailescu
mesh_terms: D049109:Cell Proliferation; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases; D005630:Fructans / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013499:Surface Properties; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D005630:Fructans; C072599:levan; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases