Morphological regulation of rabbit chondrocytes on glucose-displayed surface

A culture surface was designed to regulate morphology of rabbit chondrocytes by changing the ratio of d- and l-glucose isomers displayed on a glass plate. With increasing ratio of d-glucose displayed on the surfaces, the efficiency of cell attachment improved, meaning that the attachment exclusively occurred via mediation of an affinity between d-glucose displayed and glucose transporter on cell membrane. At 0% and 100% d-glucose display, the round-shaped cells appeared dominantly, and most of cells became stretched in shape at 50% d-glucose display, indicating that the frequency of round-shaped cells depicted a concave profile against the ratio of d-glucose displayed. From the cytoskeletal staining of F-actin and vinculin, the immature stress fibers with fewer focal contacts were recognized in both the round shaped cells and those stretched in shape on 100% d-glucose-displayed surface. The time-lapse observation revealed that the cells on 100% d-glucose-displayed surface conducted active migration and aggregation with formation of collagen type II. These results suggest that 100% d-glucose-displayed surface can offer culture environment to maintain the chondrocytic phenotype of cells, similarly to the conditions achieved in three-dimensional (3-D) culture.