Fibronectin Coated Culture Dishes: A Signal-Rich Surface for Specialized Cells

24-Well Auto Exchange Cell Culture Plate

When your cell culture experiments require more than just adhesion, when you need to guide cell behavior, support differentiation, or mimic in vivo tissue structure, fibronectin could be one of the suitable choices.

Fibronectin is a high-molecular-weight glycoprotein found naturally in the extracellular matrix (ECM), where it plays a vital role in cell signaling, migration, and morphogenesis. In vitro, it supports both structural attachment and biochemical communication through integrin-mediated pathways. In WPI’s 35 mm fibronectin coated FluoroDish™ with a 23 mm glass bottom provides a biologically active microenvironment, perfect for small-format, high-quality imaging experiments where clarity and precision matter.

What Is Fibronectin and How Does It Work?

Fibronectin contains RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) peptide sequences, which bind integrin receptors on the cell surface. This interaction between RGD peptide and cell receptors promotes strong, stable adhesion, triggers intracellular signaling cascades, influences cytoskeletal organization, and supports proliferation, differentiation, and migration. It’s not just a passive adhesive. It’s a functional bridge between the surface and the cell’s internal machinery. Thus, fibronectin can create a biomimetic surface promoting in vivo like cell growth and behavior.

Ideal Cell Types for Fibronectin-Coated Dishes

Fibronectin is especially beneficial for:

Human and mouse stem cells especially mesenchymal or iPSC-derived
Endothelial cells for vascular and angiogenesis models
Cancer cell lines for migration, metastasis, and wound healing models

It’s also a valuable coating for labs pursuing defined, xeno-free culture systems where animal-derived matrices like Matrigel are unsuitable.

Why WPI Offers Fibronectin on a 35 mm FluoroDish™ with 23mm

Some experiments require targeted, high-intensity observation in a confined culture zone, especially when reagents are costly or cell numbers are limited. That’s why WPI offers fibronectin coatings specifically on 35 mm FluoroDish™ cell culture dishes with a 23 mm glass bottom. This format allows:

Focused application of coatings and cells
Optimized imaging through the central glass area
Reduced reagent volume for staining or treatments
Ideal compatibility with inverted microscopy and high-NA objectives

The glass bottom is ultra-thin and non-fluorescent, giving researchers a clean optical path for confocal, epifluorescence, or live-cell imaging, even when dealing with delicate epithelial monolayers or stem cell colonies.

Applications in Research

Fibronectin-coated FluoroDishes™ support:

Stem cell differentiation into epithelial or mesodermal lineages
Tube formation and angiogenesis assays
Wound healing and scratch assays
Live-cell imaging of morphology and signaling pathways

They’re widely used in developmental biology, oncology, pharmacology, and regenerative medicine.

When to Choose Fibronectin

Fibronectin is the coating of choice when:

Cells need integrin dependent adhesion to maintain normal growth and function
You’re working with endothelial or epithelial models
Your protocol involves defined media or xeno-free culture systems
You want to influence cell fate or structure, not just keep cells attached

Available Configuration

WPI provides fibronectin coatings on 35 mm FluoroDish™ dishes with a 23 mm glass bottom, offering a signal-rich, imaging-ready platform for advanced cell culture applications.

Up Next: Vitronectin—Defined Conditions for Pluripotent Stem Cells

Next in the series, we’ll cover vitronectin—another ECM glycoprotein used to support human pluripotent stem cells in feeder-free and chemically defined environments. Learn how vitronectin-coated FluoroDish™ dishes enable high-quality stem cell maintenance and imaging without the variability of animal-derived matrices.

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