Photoactivation of cell adhesion on Caged Cell-Culturing Substrates: Effect of terminal functional groups on activation efficiency

We have recently reported a "Caged Cell-Culturing Substrate", where cell adhesion can be switched on by UV illumination. The substrate is based on an alkylsiloxane terminating with a carboxyl group that is protected by a photocleavable 2-nitrobenzyl group. In the present study, we examined the effect of terminal functional groups on photoactivation of cell adhesion. Among four tested substrates terminating with different functional groups, the photoconversion of cell adhesion was the most effective on that terminating with an amino group.