Quantitative evaluation of cell attachment to glass, polystyrene, and fibronectin- or collagen-coated polystyrene by measurement of cell adhesive shear force and cell detachment energy.

Quantitative evaluation of a material's affinity for cells is essential to understanding cell-material interaction inside a body and it is also necessary for the development of new biomaterials with superior biocompatibility. In the present study, the shear force and the total energy necessary to detach a single murine fibroblast L929 adhering to glass, polystyrene, and fibronectin- or collagen-coated polystyrene were measured directly by applying a lateral force, using a cantilever, to the cell. The projected area of the cell was also measured, and then cell adhesive shear strength and cell detachment surface energy were determined by dividing the shear force and the total energy by the area. Among these four materials, the cells on collagen-coated polystyrene have the highest cell adhesive shear strength and cell detachment surface energy (1500 Pa and 29 pJ on average, respectively), followed by the cells on fibronectin-coated polystyrene (1000 Pa and 16 pJ, respectively). The cells on glass and polystyrene had almost the same cell adhesive shear strength and cell detachment surface energy (420-670 Pa and 7-11 pJ, respectively). These observations suggest that cell adhesive shear strength and cell detachment surface energy depend on the number of the bindings between the cell and a material's surface rather than on the strength of each binding. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.