Evaluation of cell behaviour on atmospheric plasma deposited siloxane and fluorosiloxane coatings

For developing functional biomaterials, an understanding of the biological response at
material surfaces is of key importance. In particular, surface chemistry, roughness and cell type
influence this response. Many previous reports in the literature have involved the study of single
cell types and their adhesion to surfaces with a limited range of water contact angles. The
objective of this study was to investigate the adhesion of five cell lines on surfaces with contact
angles in the range of 20 to 115 . This range of water contact angles was obtained using siloxane
and fluorosiloxane coatings deposited using atmospheric plasma deposition. These nm thick
coatings were deposited by nebulizing liquid precursors consisting of poly(dimethylsiloxane)
(PDMS) and a mixture of perfluorodecyl acrylate/ tetraethylorthosilicate (PPFDA/TEOS) into the
atmospheric plasmas. Cell adhesion studies were carried out with the following cell types:
Osteoblast, Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), Hepatocytes
(HepZ) and THP1 leukemic cells. The study demonstrated that cell adhesion was significantly
influenced by the type of cell line, water contact angle and coating chemistry. For example the
sensitivity of cell lines to changes in contact angle was found to decrease in the following order:
Osteoblasts >Hepatocytes> CHO. The HEK and THP-1 inflammatory cells in contrast were not
found to be sensitive to changes in water contact angle.