Effect on the adhesion and locomotion of mouse fibroblasts by their interacting with differently charged substrates: A quantitative study by ultrastructural method

Abstract

Attachment of fibroblastic cells to differently charged substrates was observed by electron microscopy. Cells attached with large contact regions to less negatively charged substrates. When the negativity of the substrate charge increased, the total area of the contact regions decreased. The degree of adhesion was estimated by the ‘contact index’, which is the percentage of the contact regions in comparison with the circumference of the cells in vertical sections. The results in this paper show that the contact index has a fine correlation with both the substrate charge and cell locomotion. This indicates that electrostatic interaction at the cell surface is an important factor in controlling cell locomotion and cell adhesion.