Cell adhesion on zein films under shear stress field

• Zein films with microspheres of different diameter were formed by evaporation-induced self-assembled process.
• These films have different roughness.
• Zein films with higher roughness improved the flow-shear resistance of cells and might be used in vascular implant coatings.
• The morphology of the zein film with bigger microspheres was more stable against shear stress.

Vascular implants after implantation need to improve the ability of cells to withstand flow-shear stress. As such, we want to test whether zein films could improve the flow-shear stress resistance of cells by control of their surface morphology. We chose Collagen, poly l-lactic acid (PLLA) and three types of zein as the coating films and evaluated the flow-shear stress resistance of NIH3T3, and EA.hy926 on these respective films. The results showed that the retention of two cell lines on Collagen film was better than PLLA and zein films. The cell retention of EA.hy926 on Zein 3 film with higher roughness was better than Zein 1 film with a flat surface in the first 2 h. The cell retention of NIH3T3 on a rougher surface was always better than the smoother one under flow-shear stress condition for 6 h. Observation of cell morphologies showed that the aspect ratio changed significantly for NIH3T3 cells upon flow-shear stress condition, as shown by reduced numbers of pseudopodia, increased cell rounding and shrinkage. Zein 3 film with higher roughness improved the flow-shear stress resistance of cells and might be used in vascular implant coatings.

The cell retention on Zein 3 film which has bigger microspheres and roughness is higher than Zein 1 film and Zein 2 film. The surface morphology of Zein 3 film does not change upon fluid flow, while the microspheres on Zein 2 film disappear.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide