Figure 3.

Role of fibronectin (FN) in normal interactions between mimLUB-coated surfaces. (A) Normal force $F_{\perp }$ normalized by the surface radius of curvature R between two mica surfaces coated with a mimLUB layer (white circles), coated with a FN layer (black squares), and coated with a FN + mimLUB layer (gray circles) as a function of total film thickness, D. Forces are measured upon approach at a constant velocity of 5 nm/s. (B) Bar charts of average film thicknesses at rest, D₀, and (C) average “hardwall” thicknesses, HW for mimLUB (black), FN (gray), and FN + mimLUB (white) films. Values reported as mean + SD of one-way ANOVA tests. In all cases, p < 0.05 is indicated by a single star and p < 0.01 by two stars. All data were fitted using the AdG model (Eq. 1).