Smooth muscle cell adhesion on crosslinked hyaluronan gels.

Hyaluronic acid (HA)-based polymers (hylans) are highly biocompatible and can be structurally modified to obtain desired mechanical properties. This study evaluated divinyl sulfone-crosslinked solid and particulate hylans as cellular scaffolds. These two hylan types differ in surface characteristics, mode of preparation, HA content, and extent of crosslinking. Neonatal rat aortic smooth muscle cells were cultured on hylan gels coated with matrix factors including collagen I, ECM gel, laminin, and fibronectin and on uncoated controls for < or =4 weeks. Cell attachment was sparse on uncoated controls but significantly enhanced on coated gels. Cell morphology was influenced by the identity of the matrix factors coated and the surface topography of the hylan gels. Cells attached to coated particulate gels appeared either highly spread (collagen, fibronectin) or irregularly shaped (ECM gel, laminin). Cells on laminin and fibronectin-coated solid gels were rounded and nonproliferative. Cells proliferated most rapidly on ECM gel-coated gels. The uneven surface of particulate gels induced more protein deposition and the subsequent attachment and active proliferation of cells. This study shows that surface texturizing and subsequent surface treatment with matrix factors enhances cell attachment and proliferation of hylans. These results are useful toward developing bioengineered materials based on cell-hylan composites. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 60: 196–205, 2002