DETACHMENT OF HUMAN FIBROBLASTS FROM FEP-TEFLON SURFACES

In this study a comparison is made between the detachment behavior of human fibroblasts adhered to hydrophobic FEP-Teflon (water contact angle 109 degrees) and to hydrophilic glass (water contact angle smaller than 15 degrees) during exposure to a laminar, incrementally loaded flow. Detachment from FEP-Teflon occurred at a much smaller shear stress (22 dynes/cm2) than detachment from glass (324 dynes/cm2). Scanning electron microscopical observations indicated that networks of filopodial extensions were present on FEP-Teflon and glass along which the cells retracted their borders prior to detachment. These networks showed similarities on both substrata, albeit that this typical morphology occurred more readily on FEP-Teflon than on glass. Furthermore, the immediate return to round shapes of fibroblasts adhered to FEP-Teflon after the onset of flow suggests that a mechanism must be present by which cells are triggered to respond to external stimuli as, for example, flow.