## Results
### LP Plasma Deposition of Differently Cell-Repulsive Coatings
It is possible to observe that cells cover almost completely, to confluence growth, all substrates after 5 days except those with a PEO-character of around 70% (DEGME_5W). On these surfaces, of clear non-fouling character, only a few adhering cells can be observed after 1 day of growth. Very few cells are present also after 5 days, clustered together due to their minimal adhesion to the non-fouling surface. It is very interesting to compare how cells behave on VAc/DEGDME and DEGDME coatings, deposited at the same power of 15 W, after 1 day of growth. The latter discourages cell adhesion more than the former although the PEO-character is higher in the VAc/DEGDME_15W coating. This behavior attests to a possible contribution of C-OH cell adhesive alcohol moieties to the II component, where the non-fouling  
Figure 4: XPS C1s spectra acquired on plasma polymers deposited at 5 (**a,d,g**), 15 (**b,e,h**) and 50 W (**c,f,i**) with different feed composition at the following experimental conditions: (**a–c**) 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 5 sccm Ar, 53 Pa, 60 min; (**d–f**) 4.5 sccm VAc, 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 5 sccm Ar, 53 Pa, 60 min; (**g–i**) 4.5 sccm VAc, 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 5 sccm Ar, 53 Pa, 60 min. The intensity of C1s peaks (ordinate axis) is expressed as arbitrary units (a.u.). CH\({}_{2}\)CH\({}_{2}\)O moieties also contribute, as they can positively contribute to promote cell adhesion and amplify the cell adhesive effect of the ester groups in the IV component. The differences in cell behavior between the few on the PEO un-fouling surfaces and those adhering to the other surfaces are not related to the cell number and their growth rate. It is possible to observe, from high magnification images, as in Figure 6, an evident difference in morphology of the NHDF cells. The few cells adhering to the DEGME_5W surface are not only smaller, but they show no stress actin fibers and no focal adhesions, as shown from the vinculin staining, concerning those on the other surfaces. These further confirm the un-fouling character of the DEGME_5W surface. Figure 5: Images of actin cytoskeleton of NHDF cells grown on different samples for 1 (DAY 1) and 5 days (DAY 5) of cell culture. Samples are untreated Titanium (Ti); Ti PE-CVD coated with DEGDME at 5 W (DEGDME_5W; 5 W, 53 Pa, 5 sccm Ar, 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 60 min) and at 15 W (DEGDME_15W; 15 W, 53 Pa, 5 sccm Ar, 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 60 min); Ti PE-CVD coated with VAc at 5 W (VAc_5W; 5 W, 53 Pa, 5 sccm VAc, 60 min); PE-CVD coated with VAc/DEGDME mixture at 15 W (VAc/DEGDME_15W; 15 W, 53 Pa, 4.5 sccm VAc, 0.5 sccm DEGDME, 60 min). Figure 6: Images of the actin cytoskeleton of NHDF cells grown on the DEGME_5W and Vac/DEGME_15W surfaces. Actin is shown in green, vinculin in red. The presence of stress fibers (actin) and of focal adhesions ( vinculin) is highlighted by the white arrows. Aerosol-Assisted AP Plasma Deposition of Organic Coatings Starting from a Monomer with \"Cell-Repulsive\" Motifs  
Plasma deposition of cell repulsive coatings has been also carried out in aerosol-assisted AP plasma using a DBD reactor, fed with a mixture He and TEGDME. PC substrates have been processed with a single or a multiple-step approach to investigate and improve the stability of the coatings during water soaking and cell adhesion experiments. As described earlier, PEOA coatings were deposited at \(\phi\)He-carrier of 4.85 slm, PEOB at a higher \(\phi\)He-carrier flow rate of 6.85 slm in a single step process. In both cases, TEGDME was let in the DBD with 3.15 slm of \(\phi\)He-TEGDME aerosol. Excitation frequency and applied voltage were kept constant at 26 kHz and 8.5 kV\({}_{\text{p-p}}\). Optical images acquired on bare and PEOA coated (5 min) PC before and after 3 days of water, soaking is reported in Figure 7. The images show coatings characterized by a certain roughness, and no relevant morphologic changes after water soaking up to 3 days (Figure 7c,d), attesting to acceptable stability of the PEOA coatings in water.