Effects of surface functional groups on proliferation and biofunction of Schwann cells

Scaffolds in tissue engineering should be rationally designed to become an adhesion substrate friendly to cells. Schwann cells play an important role in nerve regeneration and repair. Previous studies have suggested that surface chemical groups have effect on many types of cells. However, there have hitherto been few reports on Schwann cells. In this study, we investigated cell adhesion, survival, proliferation, and neurotrophic actions of Schwann cells cultured on glass coverslips modified with different chemical groups, including methyl, carboxyl, amino, hydroxyl, mercapto, and sulfonic groups. Schwann cells on amino and carboxyl surfaces had higher attachment rate, presenting good morphology, high proliferation, and strong neurotrophic functions, while on methyl surfaces, few cells can survive, cells shrunk into round shape, exhibiting poor proliferation and weak neurotrophic functions. Growth of cells on other groups was between methyl and amino, carboxyl, and had little difference among them. Our data indicated that chemical groups can regulate behavior of Schwann cells, indicating a way to design new scaffolds for peripheral nerve regeneration.