Recently, various sugar chains have been added to polystyrene derivantia (PV-sugar), and attempts have been made to regulate specific cell growth and adhesion. PV-sugar is a highly interesting high-molecular compound, in which the action of cells changes due to differences in sugar chains. This sugar chain addition reaction technique is promising for its potential for new clinical applications in the preparation of artificial extra-cellular matrix. We examined various actions of alteration in vitro with PV-sugar on fibroblasts from skin and oral mucosa. Six kinds of PV-sugar were coated on a dish, with no cellular adhesion processing. Cell growth was measured using WST-1, and cell adhesion was measured by lactate dehydrogenase cytotoxicity testing at 24 and 48 hours after the coating. For the morphological observation, methylene blue stain and fluorescence staining were performed. As a result of our examination, the PVsugar did not function for direct cell growth of the fibroblasts. However, improved cell adhesion was recognized with PV-GlcNAc (poly (N-p-vinylbenzyl-O-2-acetoamide-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1, 4)-2-acetoamide-2-deoxy-β-gluconamide)), PV-Lam (poly (N-pvinylbenzyl-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-(1, 4)-D-gluconamide)). Moreover, PV-MA (poly (N-p-vinylbenzyl-O-α-Dglucopyranosyl-(1, 4)-D-gluconamide)) tended to inhibit cell adhesion and growth in the early stage. The cytoskeleton was observed to change with the type of sugar chain. From the above results, when bioartificial tissue is made, it was suggested that the sugar chain addition technique is useful to give the matrix an anchorage for cellularis variation.
