Inside Front Cover: Tailoring Cell Adhesion Using Surface-Grafted Polymer Gradient Assemblies (Adv. Mater. 23/2005)

A three‐step approach to tailor cell adhesion via surface‐grafted polymer gradients is shown in this image from the work of Genzer and co‐workers on p. 2802. Surface‐anchored polymer assemblies with gradients in polymer molecular weight and/or grafting density are first employed to tailor adsorption of the protein, which in turn governs the number density as well as the extent of spreading of osteoblastic cells. Increasing the surface coverage of the polymer results in a decrease in the amount of protein adsorbed, which causes a decrease in the number of cells adhered and a change in cell morphology. Surface‐grafted polymer assemblies with a gradient in molecular weight (MW) and/or grafting density (σ) are used to tune protein adsorption, which consequently governs cell adhesion. Increasing the surface coverage of the polymer by increasing the MW and/or σ results in a decrease in the amount of protein adsorbed, which causes a decrease in the number of cells adhered and a change in cell morphology