A new class of bioactive thin films using growth factors as building blocks has been fabricated vialayer-by-layer assembly (LBL) technique. Acid fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) in the presence ofheparin was used as negatively charged polyelectrolytes, while poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) was chosenas a positively charged counterpart. The self-deposition process and surface morphology of the resultantmultilayers were monitored and detected by UV-vis absorbance spectra, advanced contact anglemeasurements, and scanning force microscopy (SFM) observations. Cell culture was performed toassess the efficiency of the growth factors. The fibroblasts proliferated faster on the surface assembledwith five bilayers of (aFGF/heparin)/PEI with apparent higher cytoviability than on those surfacesmodified by one bilayer of (aFGF/heparin)/PEI, five bilayers of aFGF/PEI, or five bilayers of heparin/PEI, and tissue culture polystyrene. Enhanced secretion of collagen type I and interleukin 6 (IL-6) bythe fibroblasts seeded on the five bilayers of (aFGF/heparin)/PEI was also verified by immunohistochemical examination. The bioactivity of the (aFGF/heparin)/PEI multilayers could be largelypreserved when stored at -20
![](/i<font color=)
mages/entities/deg.gif">C.