Fig. 1: High-throughput screening of β-amino acid polymers for preosteoblast cell adhesion.
From: Dual mechanism β-amino acid polymers promoting cell adhesion
a Cell adhesion mechanisms of RGD, KRSR, and β-amino acid polymer-modified surfaces. b Subunits to compose β-amino acid polymers. All subunits are racemic and the resulting polymers are heterochiral. c The general synthesis of the 76 β-peptide polymers with a chain length of 20 amino acid residue. d An OEG8 antifouling layer was used to resist protein adsorption and non-specific cell adhesion to the substrate. e Thiol-terminated polymers were covalently attached to maleimide-functionalized glass surface for high-throughput screening of cell adhesion, using RGD (RGDSPC) and KRSR (KRSRGYC) peptide-modified surfaces for comparison. f High-throughput screening of cell adhesion evaluated by fluorescence scanning and quantification on live/dead stained cells, calcein AM (green) for live cells. g Heat map showing the relationship of preosteoblast adhesion vs. polymer composition. The fluorescence intensity was normalized with RGD-modified surface. h Micrograph of F-actin (green) stained preosteoblast cell adhesion to surfaces modified with DMxCOy (x + y = 100, x = 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90), RGD, KRSR, and OEG8, respectively. Scale bar: 500 μm. i XPS spectra of bare glass, NH2-glass, OEG8, and DM50CO50-modified surfaces. j 3D AFM images of bare glass, RGD, and DM50CO50-modified surfaces. k Water contact angle of bare glass, OEG8, RGD, and DM50CO50-modified surfaces.
