A new quantitative experimental approach to investigate single cell adhesion on multifunctional substrates

Cell adhesion is fundamental for the organization of cells in multicellular organisms since it has a key role in several physiological functions that drive tissue formation and development. A better knowledge of the affections that influence the adhesion capability of cells in several pathologies, such as cancer diseases or multiple sclerosis could enable the development of new therapeutical strategies. Whereas the optimal control of cell adhesion and growth on new technological materials is a primary issue in modern tissue engineering, few techniques are able to provide quantitative and reliable results on cell adhesion. We present a method that enables the investigation of cell adhesion at the single cell level and provides the capability to test the adhesion of a single cell on multifunctional substrates. To reach this goal we applied single cell force spectroscopy (SCFS) on custom designed patterns of molecules prepared on a rigid substrate by using a cantilever based molecule deposition tool, and we tested the adhesion of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells and Human Embrionic Kidney cells on two polyelectrolytes that are widely used as adhesive factors for cells growth: Polyethylenimine and Poly-D-Lysine. Our results confirm the common hypothesis on the mechanism of adhesion promotion by protonated molecules. Optimizations of the experimental settings of SFCS experiment are introduced here. The presented technique offers the unique opportunity to be extended to the study of cell adhesion on an unlimited number molecular species.