Morphological evidence for a different fibronectin receptor organization and function during fibroblast adhesion on hydrophilic and hydrophobic glass substrata

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A polyclonal antibody against the β1 subunit of the fibronectin (FN) receptor was used to mimic the early events of integrin receptor functioning to study the initial cellular processes during the organization of FN matrix on biomaterials. Hydrophilic glass and hydrophobic octadecylsilane (ODS) surfaces have been applied as models for different biocompatible materials. By immunofluorescence we could demonstrate that FN receptors organize on the dorsal cell surface of adhering fibroblasts in a specific linear pattern along with actin filaments, but only if the cells were attached to hydrophilic glass. In contrast, FN receptors were not reorganized on hydrophobic octadecylsilane (ODS). In parallel experiments, FN matrix formation after 72 h of incubation on the same substrata has been analyzed microscopically, and quantified by cell ELISA, in order to be further correlated with the integrin receptor functioning in contact with the biomaterials. It was found that FN structuring and the amount of FN matrix have been significantly diminished on ODS that was related to the observed changes in integrin receptor functioning. To learn more about the mechanism of this phenomenon, desorption of 125-FN from these substrata was studied and found to be significantly decreased on hydrophobic ODS. As a consequence, FN receptor (function) might be arrested on the ventral cell surface, thus the important role of β 1 integrins in the positional organization of the FN matrix may be disturbed. In light of these facts, antibody-induced clustering of FN receptor can be considered as a useful model for studying the early steps of FN matrix formation on biomaterials.