TAILORING OF SURFACES WITH ULTRATHIN LAYERS FOR CONTROLLED BINDING OFBIOPOLYMERS AND ADHESION AND GUIDANCE OF CELLS

Various strategies are described for the bio-functionalization of soli d substrates by design of interfacial architectures. The first approac h is based on the self-assembly process of long-chain thiol molecules from solution to a (noble) metal surface. If some of these building bl ocks carry a binding site (ligand) for proteins (receptors, antibodies , etc.) the metal surface can be tailored for maximum specific binding while simultaneously minimizing nonspecific adsorption. The second co ncept is based on polymers that are covalently attached to (oxide) sur faces. The preparation of these (end-) grafted functional polymers inv olves either the binding of preformed macromolecules to corresponding sites at the surface of the support or the recently introduced ''graft ing-from'' method, by which an initiator molecule is first covalently bound to the surface and then activated - either by heat or light - in the presence of suitable monomer units such that a polymer chain grow s from the solid/solution interface. Finally, the functionalization of patterned surfaces by peptide chains that mimic the binding domains o f cell adhesion proteins is summarized. It is demonstrated that not on ly the selective adhesion of neuronal cells can then be controlled, bu t also their development with the outgrowth of dendrites and axons.