Cell Adhesion Properties on Chemically Micropatterned Boron-Doped Diamond Surfaces

The adhesion properties of living cells were investigated on a range of chemically modified boron-doped diamond (BDD) surfaces. We studied the influence of oxidized, H−, amine- (NH₂−), methyl- (CH₃−), trifluoromethyl- (CF₃−) and vinyl- (CH₂CH−) terminated BDD surfaces on human osteosarcoma U2OS and mouse fibroblast L929 cells behavior. Cell-surface interactions were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy in terms of cell attachment, spreading and proliferation. U2OS cells poorly adhered on hydrophobic surfaces and their growth was blocked. In contrast, L929 cells were mainly influenced by the presence of perfluoroalkyl chains in regard to their morphology. The results were subsequently applied to selectively micropattern U2OS cells on dual hydrophobic/hydrophilic surfaces prepared by a UV/ozone lithographic approach. U2OS cells colonized preferentially hydrophilic (oxide-terminated) motifs, forming confluent arrays with distinguishable edges separating the alkyl regions.