Adhesion and signal transduction of endothelial cells on a honeycomb films pre-coated by fibronectin

In order to determine how cells respond to a honeycomb film of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), focal adhesion of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAECs) cultured on the Fn coated honeycomb films in a serum free medium were characterized by using immunofluorescencet labeling of vinculin and focal adhesion kinase autophosphorylated at the tyrosine residue 397 (pY397FAK).. The sites of pY397FAK and vinculin were overlapped and agreed well with the adsorption site of Fn fibrils. This demonstrated that PAECs adhered onto the honeycomb films at focal contact points localized around pore periphery. The expression of pY397FAK was 3 times higher than that on a PCL flat film as a reference. These results imply that the signaling mediated by a integrin receptor - Fn binding were activated more effectively on honeycomb films compared with on a flat film The cell response to honeycomb films (adhesion pattern and phosphorilation of FAK) was supposed to be originated from the regularly arraigned adsorption pattern of Fn determined by the pore structure of the film.