Surface properties of 3D scaffolds are improved by coating or covalently linking certain adhesion promoting proteins or peptides. In the present study, the effect of type I collagen-derived peptide (GKNGDDGEA) on adhesion and proliferation of HaCaT keratinocytes and NIH3T3 murine fibroblast cell lines was studied to assess its suitability for possible skin tissue engineering applications. Cell adhesion and proliferation of HaCaT and NIH3T3 were found to be enhanced by peptide-coating. The optimum peptide coating densities to obtain best cell adhesion and proliferation were found to be 0.827µmoles/cm2 and 0.62 µmoles/cm2 for HaCaT and NIH3T3 respectively. Cell adhesion, in the presence of anti-integrin α1 antibody inhibited attachment of NIH3T3 cells indicating the involvement of integrin α1 receptor. However, the attachment of HaCaT cells was not affected by anti-integrin treatment. The higher expression of paxillin confirmed the effect of the peptide in mediating focal adhesion kinases in cell adhesion and proliferation. Gene expression analysis was performed on cell migration proteins like Rho, Rac, Cdc42, integrin receptor α1, and β1, and the ECM modulating proteins like MMP2, TIMP and COL1A1 to validate their role on the peptide mediated cell proliferation. Immunofluorescence analysis showed the distribution and localisation of p-FAK on cells cultured on peptide-coated surface. Results support the role of peptide in enhancing cell adhesion and proliferation properties.

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