Supporting information
Influences of surface chemistry and swelling of salt-treated polyelectrolyte multilayers on
migration of smooth muscle cells
Lulu Han, Zhengwei Mao, Jindan Wu, Yuying Zhang, Changyou Gao*
MOE of Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer
Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
*Corresponding author.
Email: cygao@mail.hz.zj.cn
Fax: +86-571-87951108
(b)
6
3
0
-3
1
3
6
Velocity in y axis (m/h)
Velocity in x axis (m/h)
(a)
5
NaCl concentration (M)
-6
3
0
-3
1
3
5
NaCl concentration (M)
-6
Figure S1. Cell migration velocity in (a) x and (b) y directions on the multilayers treated with 1 M, 3
M and 5 M salt solutions.
Cell migration velocity in x axis: X , X 
t
 (x  x
Cell migration velocity in y axis: Y , Y 
i 1
i
i 1
)/t
t
(y  y
i 1
i
i 1
)/t
Where xi (or yi ) and xi 1 (or yi 1 ) represent x-axis (or y-axis) coordinates of cell centre positions at the
i and i-1 time, respectively. x0 and y0 values are set as 0. The cell migration velocity in x axis or y axis
( X or Y ) is the mean value of each cell velocity in x axis or y axis ( X or Y ), respectively, which is
calculated over the observation time (t). At least 15 cells are calculated for each sample.
Cell characteristic length (m)
200
*
* *
* *
*
*
*
*
*
150
*
100
50
0
0
TCPS
1
2
3
4
NaCl concentration (M)
5
Figure S2. Cell characteristic length on the TCPS and the multilayers treated with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 M
NaCl solutions. * indicates significant difference at p < 0.05.
Cell characteristic length is averaged from the long axis of spreading cells.
(a1)
(a2)
(a3)
(b1)
(b2)
(b3)
(c1)
(c2)
(c3)
(d1)
(d2)
(d3)
(e1)
(e2)
(e3)
Figure S3. Representative CLSM images of SMCs cultured for 4h on (a) 1 M, (b) 2 M, (c) 3 M, (d) 4
M, and (e) 5 M NaCl solutions, respectively. Panel 1, the merge fluorescence images of vinculin
(green), actin (red), and nucleus (blue). Panel 2 and Panel 3 show the vinculin and actin in a single cell,
respectively. Arrows indicate area of large focal adhesions plaques. Scale bar: 20 µm.