ABSTRACT
Cell culture is one of the major tools used in cell and molecular biology. Cells derived from solid tissues require an adhering surface to live and to proliferate in vitro conditions. The first step after exposure of any biomaterial to a biological environment results in the rapid adsorption of proteins to its surface [1]. The composition, type, amount, and conformation of adsorbed proteins regulate the secondary
phenomena such as cellular adhesion and protein exchange and also the following cellular reactions such as migration, proliferation and differentiation. As shown schematically in Fig. 1, cell adhesion precedes other events such as cell spreading, cell proliferation and eventually cell differentiation. A good understanding of the relationships between the behavior of cells and the physicochemical properties of the substrates such as the surface free energy, the presence of functional groups and surface charges is of prime importance for the optimization of cell cultures.
