Cell-material Interactions

Nature and mechanism of interaction between cells and the substrate on which they are seeded influence cellular behaviours such as growth, proliferation, differentiation, migration, morphology, and functions. Thus, knowledge of basic and specific cell-material interactions is of fundamental importance. A deeper understanding of the cellular processes during the interaction of anchorage-dependent cells with materials could provide valuable information for the development of new biomaterials and for the design of better tissue engineering scaffolds. This paper outlines the common principles of the cell-material interaction. At first, we describe the cell-adhesion mechanism which is crucial for the first phase of cell-material interactions influencing cell's capacity to proliferate and to differentiate. After a description of the morphological, physico-chemical and transport properties of the material surface which greatly influence cell attachment and growth on the material, we illustrate the strategies to improve the biocompatibility and bioactivity of the materials. In particular, new biocompatible materials and modification of surface chemistry including grafting of functional groups, peptides and proteins are presented. These approaches aim to enhance the attractiveness of the material for cells and thus are decisive for the cell-material interaction as well as for integration of the material with the surrounding tissue.