Promotion and control of selective adhesion and proliferation of endothelial cells on polymer surface by carbon deposition.

The adhesion and proliferation of endothelial cells can be drastically improved when cultivated on a carbon-deposited polymer surface. When the surface of segmented polyurethane, in which endothelial cells are not capable of proliferating, is modified by carbon deposition, cell adhesion and proliferation occurred selectively on the carbon-deposited region. Carbon deposition to a tissue culture-treated polystyrene surface on which cells are capable of proliferating further promoted cell spreading and proliferation. Cell patterning on carbon-deposited segmented polyurethane was also attempted by controlling the direction or region of cell proliferation. Carbon deposition onto the polymer surface brought about a decrease in the water contact angle of the surface. Precoating fibronectin or laminin on the carbon-deposited polymer surface brought about cell adhesion and proliferation in the carbon-deposited region, but not in the non-carbon-deposited region. Our data suggest that promotion of cell proliferation on a carbon-deposited surface is probably due to selective adhesion of adhesive proteins to the surface.