Kd. Chesmel et J. Black, CELLULAR-RESPONSES TO CHEMICAL AND MORPHOLOGIC ASPECTS OF BIOMATERIALSURFACES .1. A NOVEL IN-VITRO MODEL SYSTEM, Journal of biomedical materials research, 29(9), 1995, pp. 1089-1099
The clinical success of any implant is directly dependent upon the cel
lular behavior in the immediate vicinity of the interface established
between the host tissue and the biomaterial(s) used to fabricate the d
evice, All biomaterials have morphologic, chemical, and electrical sur
face characteristics that influence the cellular response to the impla
nt. Quantitative measurement of specific aspects of this local host re
sponse to different but well-characterized biomaterial surfaces provid
es a crucial link in the understanding of the overall phenomenon of im
plant biocompatibility. A system has been devised for in vitro examina
tion of responses of cells to controlled but independent changes in bo
th the chemistry and morphology of polystyrene (PS) tissue culture sur
faces. Micromachined silicon wafers wore used as templates to solvent-
cast PS replicas [using 0, 1, or 2 wt % styrene (S) monomer additions]
with either none, 0.5- or 5.0-mu m-deep surface grooves arranged in a
radial array. When all possible morphologies were combined with all p
ossible polymers, nine model biomaterial surfaces (MBSs) were produced
. The chemical characteristics of the MBSs were determined using elect
ron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, secondary ion mas's spectrosco
py, and contact angle techniques and were found to be distinct. The ty
pes and amount of proteins that adsorb onto these surfaces from serum
containing media were examined and found to consist of multiple molecu
lar layers of relatively uniform composition. Self-contained tissue cu
lture vessels formed from the MBSs were capable of supporting the grow
th of confluent cultures of rat calvarial cells. The model biomaterial
system described here can be used to examine how simultaneous stimuli
resulting from the chemical and morphological characteristics of a te
st material may influence biologic responses. Such multifactorial bioc
ompatibility research is needed to properly document material-host int
eractions. (C) 1995 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.