title: Cell--cell crosslinking by bio-molecular recognition of heparin-based layer-by-layer nanofilms.
abstract: When bio-molecular recognition between nanofilms and proteins occurs on cell surfaces, rapid cellular assembly takes place. Cells coated with layer-by-layer nanofilms composed of fibronectin and heparin form aggregates after centrifugation and nanofilms induce attractive forces between cells through bio-molecular recognition between membrane proteins and heparin. Cell aggregates display network structures of cells as seen in colloidal gels with high viscosity. Cell-cell crosslinking allows for the construction of 3D-tissues with rich glycosaminoglycan. This cell-cell crosslinking process that uses a layer-by-layer technique has enormous potential for in vitro tissue applications in regenerative medicine and cell signaling assays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
authors.forename: Michiya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsusaki
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000494:pharmacology; D006493:Heparin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D058525:Quartz Crystal Microbalance Techniques; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D005353:Fibronectins; D006493:Heparin
keywords: cell surface; crosslinking; molecular recognition; thin films; tissue engineering