Regulation of Scaffold Cell Adhesion Using Artificial Membrane Binding Proteins

The rapid pace of development in biotechnology has placed great importance on controlling cell–material interactions. In practice, this involves attempting to decouple the contributions from adhesion molecules, cell membrane receptors, and scaffold surface chemistry and morphology, which is extremely challenging. Accordingly, a strategy is presented in which different chemical, biochemical, and morphological properties of 3D biomaterials are systematically varied to produce novel scaffolds with tuneable cell affinities. Specifically, cationized and surfactant‐conjugated proteins, recently shown to have non‐native membrane affinity, are covalently attached to 3D scaffolds of collagen or carboxymethyl‐dextran, yielding surface‐functionalized 3D architectures with predictable cell immobilization profiles. The artificial membrane‐binding proteins enhance cellular adhesion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) via electrostatic and hydrophobic binding mechanisms. Furthermore, functionalizing the 3D scaffolds with cationized or surfactant‐conjugated myoglobin prevents a slowdown in proliferation of seeded hMSCs cultured for seven days under hypoxic conditions. A novel strategy is developed where chemical, biochemical, and morphological properties of biomaterials scaffolds are varied by the covalent coupling of cationized and surfactant‐conjugated proteins. These artificial membrane binding proteins not only increase cellular adhesion via electrostatic and hydrophobic mechanisms, but can also be used as oxygen reservoirs to prevent slowdown of proliferation in hypoxic conditions.