Charged N,N-disubstituted hydrazine phosphorus-containing dendrimers are deposited either as alternate all-dendrimers multilayers or alternating with linear polymers on 3-mercaptopropionic acid or 3-aminopropyldimethylethoxysilane coated surfaces via electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly. The behavior of the film formation is investigated by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and ellipsometry. Fetal cortical rat neurons were cultured on the dendrimer films in order to investigate the influence of the surface charge of the outermost layer on their adhesion and maturation. It was found that neurons attached preferentially and matured slightly faster on film surfaces terminated with positively dendrimers than on negatively charged surfaces. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.