Cell adhesion strength to bioceramics and morphology

The aim of this study is to measure adhesion strength of cultured cells to bioceramics such as alumina, and to adapt a mathematical model of defect growth kinetics to the cell adhesion phenomena. Fibroblasts from mouse (L-929) were cultured on alumina plates and fibronectin-coated alumina plates. The adhesion strength was measured by loading adhered cells with centrifugal force vertical to the material's surface. At the same time, we measured adhered areas and morphology of cells on the 2 types of surfaces by using an image analyzing method. The results show that the cells adhered more tightly to fibronectin coated alumina than to alumina. (50% of the cells were peeled off from the fibronectin-coated alumina under the load of 500 G, while 50% of the cells were peeled off from the alumina under the load of 100 G.) The image processed data show that the average of adhered areas of cells to fibronectin coated alumina was 3 times as large as to alumina 6 hours after seeding. The results show influence of fibronectin-receptor bonds on the cell's adhesion strength and the cell's adhesion phenomena. Considering the influence of fibronectin-receptor bonds, a mathematical model of defect growth kinetics was adapted to the cells adhesion phenomena, where we assumed that the rate of condensation of vacancies or the rate of rupture of fibronectin-receptor bonds at the tip of the crack was proportional to the radius of the crack.