Polymers having a sugar moiety in the side group have been utilized as artificial matrices for cell adhesion in tissue engineering. In this study, methacrylamide - based polymers having lactose and maltose derivative structures in the side group with various aliphatic hydrocarbon spacers were synthesized, and their cell adhesion properties were examined. Methacrylamide monomers were prepared by two step amidation of a spacer diamine, first with a sugar lactone and then with a methacrylic anhydride. These monomers were radically polymerized in aqueous media using 4,4-azobis(4-cyanovaleric acid) (ACVA) as radical initiator to give the corresponding polymethacrylamide. Specific interaction between these polymers and animal cell was investigated by adhesion of proliferated human liver cancer cell (WRL) to the polymethacrylamides. WRL interacted with polymers having a lactose structure with a hexamethylene or 1,4-cyclohexylene spacer by a specific manner and was promoted typical spheroid formation, while it did not interacted with polymers having a maltose structure. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 4003-4010