title: An accelerated buoyancy adhesion assay combined with 3-D morphometric analysis for assessing osteoblast adhesion on microgrooved substrata.
abstract: An accelerated negative buoyancy method has been developed to assess cell adhesion strength. This method has been used in conjunction with 3-D morphometric analysis to understand the effects of surface topology on cell response. Aligned micro-grooved surface topographies (with a range of groove depths) were produced on stainless steel 316L substrates by laser ablation. An investigation was carried out on the effect of the micro-grooved surface topography on cell adhesion strength, cell and nucleus volumes, cell phenotypic expression and attachment patterns. Increased hydrophobicity and anisotropic wettability was observed on surfaces with deeper grooves. A reduction was noted in cell volume, projected areas and adhesion sites for deeper grooves, linked to lower cell proliferation and differentiation rates and also to reduced adhesion strength. The results suggest that the centrifugation assay combined with three-dimensional cell morphometric analysis has considerable potential for obtaining improved understanding of the cell/substrate interface.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, Cambridge University, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sobral
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK; EMPA, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Biointerfaces, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, 9014 St Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Malheiro
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, Cambridge University, 27 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK.
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Clyne
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Research Institute, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 9RE, UK; South Glasgow University Hospital, School of Medicine, 1345 Govan Road, Glasgow G51 4TF, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rezk
authors.affiliation: Institute for Manufacturing, Cambridge University, 17 Charles Babbage Road, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK. Electronic address: am253@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Markaki
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D013499:Surface Properties
keywords: Cell adhesion; Centrifugation; Laser ablation; Surface topography