Mixed Integrin-Specific Surfaces Synergistically Modulate Signal Transduction and Cell Proliferation

摘要

The wide range of controlled mixed ligand densities generated by this process demonstrates the feasibility of generating integrin-specific hybrid surfaces. The increased cell adhesion and synergistic activation of FAK underscore the advantage of specifically targeting more than one integrin implicated in a particular signaling pathway and downstream cellular effect. Proliferation rate results confirm that the enhanced signaling effects of mixed ligand surfaces translate to downstream cellular responses. In addition, increased levels of FAK have been correlated with increased differentiation of osteoblast cells. Screening of osteoblastic differentiation on these hybrid surfaces is currently being examined in vitro and in vivo. We expect that these ECM-mimetic surfaces can be used to identify optimal mixed ligand compositions that upregulate osteoblastic differentiation and matrix mineralization.