Hydrophobic cell walls, adhesion

The adhesion of cells to surfaces is different from that of proteins and DNA. Cell adhesion and spreading are believed to depend primarily on the hydrophobicity of both cells and surfaces. Cell surface hydrophobicity is usually associated with the presence of fibrillar structures oti cell surfaces and specific cell wall proteins. Adhesion, spreading, and growth of mammalian cells are generally promoted on hydrophilic surfaces ( static 30 40°) [10], while those of bacterial... 

AFM characterization of the surface wettability of hemp fibre was reported by [41]. These images detailed the rough primary cell wall, which is characteristic of the hemp fibre. The fibres showed lower adhesion force and were presumably hydrophobic. Surface roughness averages of the fibre samples were measured to be between 10 and 20 nm on 1 mm areas, which were significantly rougher than the... 

From the previous work, it can be concluded that the major limitation of using these fibers as reinforcements in such matrices is poor interfacial adhesion between polar, hydrophilic fibers and a non-polar, hydrophobic matrix. Thus, in order to overcome this problem, modification of fibers is required. Chemical modification can be an interesting approach to alter the cell wall structure and surface chemistry of the fibers and consequently improve the adhesion between fiber and matrix [24]. This will be discussed in a later section. 

Adsorption of PAA(200 kDa)-5-PEG(5 kDa) onto suitable PAH/PAA-based PEMs results in a drastically increased amount of surface-bound PEG, compared with adsorption on the Cr203 surface of stainless steel. FTIR-ATR spectra show a highly ordered structure with helical PEG coils orientated vertically to the substrate surface. Evaluation of FTIR-ATR spectra with respect to adsorbed chain densities reveal a very close chain packing up to 5 nm . Suitable PEM-PEGs are very effective in suppressing wall adhesion of hydrophobic yeast cells. 

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