An assessment of the strength of NG108-15 cell adhesion to chemically modified surfaces

The strength of adhesion of NG108-15 cells to glass substrates modified with adsorbed proteins (laminin and poly-ornithine) or modified with covalently bound peptides (tri-ornithine and Tyr–Ile–Gly–Ser–Arg) was quantitatively assessed, by determining the shear stresses necessary to denude the cells from substrates using a spinning disk device. The shear stresses required to detach NG108-15 cells from glass modified with either adsorbed poly-ornithine or with both poly-ornithine and laminin were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the shear stresses required to detach the cells from plain glass substrates. Covalent surface modifications resulted in higher strengths of NG108-15 adhesion than were exhibited on surfaces modified with adsorbed proteins. NG108-15 cell adhesion strength was maximal on surfaces covalently modified with only amine groups (without any peptides or proteins). These results indicate that general (i.e., not necessarily receptor-specific) surface modification strategies, which increase the net surface charge of a substrate, will elicit strong adhesion of NG108-15 cells.