Culture surfaces that substantially reduce the degree of cell manipulation in the delivery of cell sheets to patients are described. These surfaces support the attachment, culture, and delivery of multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPC). It was essential that the processes of attachment/detachment to the surface did not affect cell phenotype nor the function of the cultured cells. Both
acid-based and
amine-based surface coatings were generated from
acrylic acid,
propanoic acid, diaminopropane, and heptylamine precursors, respectively. While both functional groups supported cell attachment/detachment,
amine coated surfaces gave optimal performance. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that at a primary
amine to
carbon surface ratio of between 0.01 and 0.02, greater than 90% of attached cells were effectively transferred to a model
wound bed. A dependence on primary
amine concentration has not previously been reported. After 48 h of culture on the optimized
amine surface, PCR, functional, and viability assays showed that MAPC retained their stem cell phenotype, full metabolic activity, and
biological function. Consequently, in a proof of concept experiment, it was shown that this
amine surface when coated onto a surgical dressing provides an effective and simple technology for the delivery of MAPC to murine dorsal excisional
wounds, with MAPC delivery verified histologically. By optimizing for cell delivery using a combination of in vitro and in vivo techniques, we developed an effective surface for the delivery of MAPC in a clinically relevant format.