A surface chemistry approach to studying cell adhesion

Abstract

Model substrates that present peptide and carbohydrate ligands are becoming important mechanistic tools in cell biology. This review surveys the development of self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiolates on gold as a model substrate for studies of cell adhesion. The review begins with a background that illustrates the opportunity for using tailored substrates in biology and then addresses the characteristics that make monolayers well-suited for these studies. The review concludes with a discussion of recent work that is developing dynamic substrates wherein the activity of immobilized ligands can be modulated in real time.