Issue 34, 2020

Water stable nanocoatings of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based block copolymers on culture insert membranes for temperature-controlled cell adhesion

Abstract

This study demonstrated the spin-coating of functional diblock copolymers to develop smart culture inserts for thermoresponsive cell adhesion/detachment control. One part of the block components, the poly(n-butyl methacrylate) block, strongly supported the water stable surface-immobilization of the thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) block, regardless of temperature. The chain length of the PNIPAAm blocks was varied to regulate thermal surface functions. Immobilized PNIPAAm concentrations became larger with increasing chain length (1.0–1.6 μg cm−2) and the thicknesses of individual layers were relatively comparable at 10-odd nanometers. A nanothin coating scarcely inhibited the permeability of the original porous membrane. When human fibroblasts were cultured on each surface at 37 °C, the efficiencies of cell adhesion and proliferation decreased with longer PNIPAAm chains. Meanwhile, by reducing the temperature to 20 °C, longer PNIPAAm chains promoted cell detachment owing to the significant thermoresponsive alteration of cell-surface affinity. Consequently, we successfully produced a favorable cell sheet by choosing an appropriate PNIPAAm length for block copolymers.

Graphical abstract: Water stable nanocoatings of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based block copolymers on culture insert membranes for temperature-controlled cell adhesion

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 Apr 2020
Accepted
16 Jul 2020
First published
17 Jul 2020

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020,8, 7812-7821

Water stable nanocoatings of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-based block copolymers on culture insert membranes for temperature-controlled cell adhesion

M. Nakayama, Y. Toyoshima, H. Chinen, A. Kikuchi, M. Yamato and T. Okano, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020, 8, 7812 DOI: 10.1039/D0TB01113D

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