Promotion of cell adhesion by low-molecular-weight hydrogel by Lys based amphiphile

• Lys-based hydrogelator promoted the cell attachment to the plastic 96-well plate.
• 10,000 to 20,000 attached cells were alive on the well from the MTT assay.
• The hydrogels could interact with cells through electrostatic interaction.

Hydrogels formed by low-molecular hydrogelators have been used as anti-microbial agents and cell-attachment materials. However the biomedical application of low-molecular gelators is slowly progressing compared to the hydrogels formed by polymer hydrogelator that is applied to biomedical application such as tissue engineering and biomedical regions. To obtain a simple molecular model for potent and prospective usage of low-molecular hydrogelators, we designed a Lys-based hydrogelator which was mimic to the poly cationic poly-l-lysine that promotes cells to attach to a plastic plate nonspecifically. The gel-coating led to cause 10-fold cell attachment compared to no-coating well. Also five-time cells were attached to the well compared to the poly-l-lysine coating. From the competitive assay, these hydrogels could interact with cells through electrostatic interaction between positive charge from –NH3+ in the hydrogelator and negative charge from substances on the cell surface such as glycosaminoglycans. This strong adhesive ability can be useful for the tissue engineering and molecular glue regions using low-molecular hydrogels in the future.