Enhanced keratinocyte cell attachment to atelocollagen thin films through air and nitrogen plasma treatment

Collagen films (Atelocollagen from bovine Achilles tendon) were prepared in tissue culture dishes and their surfaces were modified by using air and nitrogen plasma treatment. The treated samples were characterised by surface probe techniques including attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy imaging (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, human immortalised nontumorigenic keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) was seeded on the treated and untreated films and cell proliferation was measured by using MTT assay test. The characterisation results confirmed physical and chemical changes on the collagen surface, such as increase in the extent of surface oxidation and surface roughness as well as, the treated samples showed better cell growth than untreated ones, and therefore this approach may be taken into account in the development of promising materials for tissue regeneration applications. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011