Abstract
The surface modification using thin polyelectrolyte multilayered films was proposed as a new scaffold material for different cell lines. In this study, we evaluated the possible use of polyelectrolyte multilayers as surface modification for the development of endothelial cells. In order to control the behaviour of endothelial cells, cell viability by MTT assay was studied. Moreover, the endothelial cell phenotype was checked and the expression of a leukocyte adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) was quantified. The behaviour of the cells on two polyelectrolyte multilayers was compared to cells on polystyrene, and two polyelectrolyte monolayers (terminating the multilayer architectures). The results have shown a better cell viability on the polyelectrolyte multilayers, inducing a higher cell number compared to polyelectrolyte monolayers after 1 and 3 days of culture. Moreover, the cells showed a normal morphology of cytoskeleton. The phenotype of the endothelial cells was kept and a low level of leukocyte adhesion molecules was observed. In conclusion, the polyelectrolyte multilayers can be considered as a potential surface modification procedure to enhance the development of endothelial cells on hydrophobic substrate and which can be applied to vascular tissue engineering.