Cross-linking multilayers of poly-l-lysine and hyaluronic acid: Effect on mesenchymal stem cell behavior:

Background:Cells possess a specialized machinery through which they can sense physical as well as chemical alterations in their surrounding microenvironment that affect their cellular behavior.Aim:In this study, we aim to establish a polyelectrolyte multilayer system of 24 layers of poly-l-lysine and hyaluronic acid to control stem cell response after chemical cross-linking.Methods and results:The multilayer build-up process is monitored using different methods, which show that the studied polyelectrolyte multilayer system grows exponentially following the islands and islets theory. Successful chemical cross-linking is monitored by an increased zeta potential toward negative magnitude and an extraordinary growth in thickness. Human adipose–derived stem cells are used here and a relationship between cross-linking degree and cell spreading is shown as cells seeded on higher cross-linked polyelectrolyte multilayer show enhanced spreading. Furthermore, cells that fail to establish focal adhesions on native an...