Morphological and functional studies of rat hepatocytes on a hydrophobic or hydrophilic polydimethylsiloxane surface

This study describes the morphological and functional behavior of rat hepatocytes on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated surface. Hepatocytes were cultured on hydrophobic or hydrophilic PDMS-coated surfaces in serum-free and serum-containing media. In the serum-free medium, almost all hepatocytes adhered onto the surface irrespective of the wettability, with a cell adhesion ratio of >90% at 24 h. In the serum-containing medium, although they strongly adhered onto the hydrophilic surface (cell adhesion ratio >85%), the ratio on the hydrophobic surface was <15%. Furthermore, hepatocytes in the serum-free medium gradually formed spheroids irrespective of the surface characteristics; however, on the hydrophilic surface in the serum-containing medium, they maintained a monolayer configuration for up to 10 days, and their numbers gradually decreased over time. Expression levels of the functional activities (albumin secretion and ammonia removal) and the cell–cell adhesion molecules (cadherin and connexin-32) were higher in the hepatocytes that formed spheroids compared to those which assumed a monolayer configuration, and these levels were maintained for at least 10 days. These results suggest that the wettability of PDMS and the composition of the culture medium together control the cell adhesion, morphology and expression of functional genes in hepatocytes.