Surface Treatment to Promote Endothelialization, UROP Summer 2022

Abstract

This project analyzed the use of new surface coatings on tissue culture plastic to determine whether the proposed coating material would act as an effective alternative to endothelialization on TCP. The main method involved seeding cells onto 18 total TCP well plates, all with varying concentrations. Nine of the plates had fibronectin applied first, followed by the application of Poly-L-Lysine, with the other nine reversing the order. Based on the results, the plates that had Poly-L-lysine applied first had better overall cell count, and subsequently adhesion, than the plates with fibronectin first. Further experimentation must be done to determine whether the combination of substrates is overall more effective than solely using one substrate to complete endothelialization. This project outlines the importance of forming a monolayer of endothelial cells and is the first step to eventually synthesizing a completely biological transplant organ.