Abstract
In living organisms the natural contact areas between cells are the cell membranes. These membranes separate the individual cells or build reaction compartments in an aqueous environment. Beside their structural role they also have specific functions that are due to the great variety of their components which are lipids (about 40β%) and proteins (about 60β%).
In terms of implant development the next neighbors of the cells are artificial materials which do not belong to the natural cellular environment. Therefore, a biocompatible implant surface is needed which is achieved by either the correct choice of the material and surface roughness or a functionalization of the surface.
To date little is known of the role lipids could play in this context. However, from literature we know that phospholipids can cause calcification and that modified phosphorylcholine polymers ('MPC polymers') are used to decrease cell adhesion and to improve blood compatibility. In the last few years it became obvious that the lipid contribution in the membrane is not only important as support for proteins but that the lipid membrane itself can also be a target for drug design and its structure can influence the function of the proteins. We therefore focused our interest on this class of amphiphilic molecules. In this work we present initial observations on the modification of metallic implant surfaces of Tiβ6Alβ7Nb (in mass percent) by phospholipid multilayers, using contact angle measurements and surface sensitive characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning force microscopy (SFM). Preliminary data concerning cell adhesion experiments are also presented.