AVS 46th International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Group Tuesday Sessions
       Session BI-TuP

Paper BI-TuP8
A Novel Method for Characterization of Cell Surface Interactions

Tuesday, October 26, 1999, 5:30 pm, Room 4C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: S. Kihlman, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Authors: S. Kihlman, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
C. Fredriksson, Q-Sense AB, Sweden
M. Rodahl, Q-Sense AB, Sweden
D.M. Steel, Göteborg University, Sweden
B. Kasemo, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Correspondent: Click to Email
A real-time in vitro technique to probe cell-surface interactions at biomaterial interfaces (e.g., contact surface, adhesion proteins, membrane and cytoskeleton modifications of the cell), would be very useful. In this study, we have explored the potential of a new method to characterize cell-surface interactions in liquid environments by dynamically monitoring the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) response due to adhering cells. The method is based on a new technique of simultaneously extracting resonant frequency and dissipation factor of the QCM. This is called QCM-D. It has here been applied to study the adhesion process of Chinese hamster ovary cells to polystyrene surfaces in serum-containing and serum-free environment at 37°C. The results show that: (i) adhesion of small colonies of a few hundred cells can readily be detected and characterized using the QCM-D technique, and (ii) the method of combining QCM data from changes in resonant frequency and dissipation factor gives new, relevant information about the character of the cell adhesion on surfaces and appears to be sensitive to properties of the surface (such as wettability) as well as the presence of serum-proteins on the surface.