Zeolite inorganic scaffolds for novel biomedical application: Effect of physicochemical characteristic of zeolite membranes on cell adhesion and viability

The novelty of the present work lies in the association of the synthesis of zeolite membranes with the adhesion of the cells. The skill to grow isolated human cells outside of the body has led to advances in fields ranging from the materials science to tissue engineering and nanomedicine [1]. Recently, methods to step up human cells from progenitor and stem cells ex vivo have been developed and this approach holds out great therapeutic promise. A huge effort has been directed at the development of synthetic substrates that can provide biomimetic signals to cells, encouraging them to attach and behave as they would in their natural environment [2-4]. Evaluation of novel materials such as components of substrates for cell growth remains an important research goal [5,6]. Page 2 of 16 Accepted Manuscript ?The adhesion and the subsequent cell activities (spreading, focal adhesion, migration, and proliferation) are highly sensitive to the surface chemistry and its physical environment including the chemical composition (atom ratio, Bro?nsted's and Lewis's acidity, hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties), structure, porosity, crystallinity of the materials, morphology and topography of the surfaces to which cells adhere [7-10]. For many years polymeric membranes have attracted the interest of researchers for their potentialities [11,12]. However, they are affected the same drawbacks that up to now have limited the wide utilization of these materials [13]. Indeed, the accessibility to using an inorganic material that marries specific performances of membranes and properties of zeolites has an edge over the other scaffolds [14]. Their peculiar physicochemical characteristics and the relatively simple possibility of preparing highly reproducible large-area zeolite membranes has placed these inorganic materials to the forefront of scientific interest correlated to the preparation of designed and synthesized materials for innovative applications in the past decade [15]. For years, zeolite crystals have been used in various technological fields of great industrial interest such as catalysts, ion-exchangers, and adsorbents in chromatographic applications. Today, the preparation of crystalline inter-grown zeolite membranes plays a central role in many new applicative fields such as catalytic zeolite membrane reactors, gas mixture separations, and pervaporation of aqueous solutions and drug delivery [16,17]. The design, synthesis and selection of inorganic materials useful as functional scaffolds for cell adhesion is a complex question based both on the understanding of the chemical behavior of the individual cells and materials, and on their interactions. Since it is well known that initial interactions of foreign materials with the living cells begins with adsorption of proteins onto non-living surfaces, to Page 3 of 16 Accepted Manuscript ?understand how the physicochemical parameters of these innovative zeolite materials can influence biological performances and, then, to rationalize their behaviour with regard to both desired and undesired effects, we have just reported the immobilization of proteins like Bovine Serum Albumin and cytochrome c on zeolite crystals and membranes [18,19]. In this study, pure structure zeolite membranes have been synthesized and utilized, without surface functionalization, for the adhesion and growing of fibroblasts.