Micro- and nanostructured Al2O3 surfaces for controlled vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cell adhesion and proliferation

The effect of the micro- and nanotopography on vascular cell-surface interaction is investigated using nano- and microstructured Al2O3 as model substrate. Two different nanostructured Al2O3 surfaces composed of low density (LD) and high density (HD) nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and commercially available microstructured Al2O3 plates were used for comparison. A clear diverging response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells (HUVSMC) was observed on these nano- and microstructured surfaces. LD Al2O3 NWs seem to enhance the proliferation of HUVECs selectively. This selective control of the cell-surface interaction by topography may represent a key issue for the future stent material design.