title: FUNCTIONALIZED, SWELLABLE HYDROGEL LAYERS AS A PLATFORM FOR CELL STUDIES.
abstract: This paper reports the design, synthesis and characterization of thin films as a platform for studying the separate influences of physical and chemical cues of a matrix on the adhesion, growth and final phenotype of cells. Independent control of the physical and chemical properties of functionalized, swellable hydrogel thin films was achieved using initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD). The systematic variation in crosslink density is demonstrated to control the swelling ability of the iCVD hydrogel films based on 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). At the same time, the incorporation of controllable concentrations of the active ester pentafluorophenyl methacrylate (PFM) allows easy immobilization of aminated bioactive motifs, such as bioactive peptides. Initial cell culture results with Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC) indicated that the strategy of using PFM to immobilize a cell-adhesion peptide motif onto the hydrogel layers promotes proper HUVEC growth and enhances their phenotype.
authors.affiliation: Grup d'Enginyeria de Materials, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull, Via Augusta 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain ; Bioengineering Department, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marí-Buyé
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138.
authors.forename: Shannan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Shaughnessy
authors.affiliation: Grup d'Enginyeria de Materials, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull, Via Augusta 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colominas
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Department, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull ; Center for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA 02139, USA ; TranslationalCentre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM), Leipzig University, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
authors.forename: Carlos E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Semino
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02138.
authors.forename: Karen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gleason
authors.affiliation: Grup d'Enginyeria de Materials, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull, Via Augusta 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain ; Bioengineering Department, Institut Químic de Sarrià-Universitat Ramon Llull.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borrós
keywords: cell signalling; functionalized hydrogel; iCVD