Biomodification of non-woven polyester fabrics by insulin and RGD for use in serum-free cultivation of tissue cells

In this study, the development of a novel cell support material was purposed as due to the serum-free cultivation of tissue cells. This material was prepared by immobilizing RGD (Arg–Gly–Asp) sequence of cell-adhesion factor, fibronectin, and cell-growth factor, insulin, to the three-dimensional non-woven polyester fabric (briefly NWPF) discs that have been used successfully in our previous cell culture studies. At first these matrices were partially hydrolyzed and then the carboxyl groups were coupled with RGD or insulin in the presence of water-soluble carbodiimide. The effectiveness of immobilization process was checked with SEM, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and swelling studies. The maximum amount of immobilized insulin was 6.96 μg cm−2 and it was obtained at 200 μg ml−1 initial insulin concentration for 60 min immobilization period. The cell culture studies which were carried out with human skin fibroblasts (HS An1) showed that, percentage of adhesion on RGD modified NWPF discs is higher than that of other surfaces, i.e., unmodified discs, polystyrene Petri dishes and insulin-immobilized discs, in serum-free culture. According to the results of growth studies, highest cell yield was obtained in the case of insulin-modified discs.