Intelligent Surfaces for Medical Applications

Abstract

Cell-materials interactions are deeply related to physicochemical nature of the surfaces. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) exhibits a transition from hydrophobic to hydrophilic across its lower-critical solution temperature (LCST) of 32^oC.The surfaces on which PIPAAm is covalently grafted with the thickness of 15-20 nm achieve temperaturedependent cell adhesion/detachment control. When the temperature is reduced below 32^oC, the surface becomes hydrophilic and swells, allowing cells to spontaneously detach from the surface without the need for enzymatic treatments. With this method, confluently cultured cells are harvested as tissue-like cell sheets with simply reducing temperature. In this review, we describe the clinical applications in regenerative medicine with cell sheet engineering using these intelligent ther morespoinsive surfaces.