Cell adhesion experiments are important in tissue engineering and for testing new
biologically active surfaces, prostheses, and medical devices. Additionally, the initial
state of adhesion (referred to as nascent adhesion) plays a key role and is currently
being intensively researched. A critical step in handling all adherent cell types
is their dissociation from their substrates for further processing. Various cell dissociation
methods and reagents are used in most tissue culture laboratories (here, cell dissociation
from the culture surface, cell harvesting, and cell detachment are used interchangeably).
Typically, the dissociated cells are re-adhered for specific measurements or applications.
However, the impact of the choice of dissociation method on cell adhesion in subsequent
measurements, especially when comparing the adhesivity of various surfaces, is not
well clarified. In this study, we demonstrate that the application of a label-free
optical sensor can precisely quantify the effect of cell dissociation methods on cell
adhesivity, both at the single-cell and population levels. The optical measurements
allow for high-resolution monitoring of cellular adhesion without interfering with
the physiological state of the cells. We found that the choice of reagent significantly
alters cell adhesion on various surfaces. Our results clearly demonstrate that biological
conclusions about cellular adhesion when comparing various surfaces are highly dependent
on the employed dissociation method. Neglecting the choice of cellular dissociation
can lead to misleading conclusions when evaluating cell adhesion data from various
sources and comparing the adhesivity of two different surfaces (i.e., determining
which surface is more or less adhesive).
