Growth of connective tissue progenitor cells on microtextured polydimethylsiloxane surfaces

Growth of human connective tissue progenitor cells (CTPs) was characterized on smooth and microtextured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces. Human bone-marrow-derived cells were cultured for 9 days under conditions promoting osteoblastic differentiation on smooth PDMS surfaces and on PDMS post microtextures that were 6 microm high and 5, 10, 20, and 40 microm in diameter, respectively. Glass tissue-culture dishes were used as controls. The number of viable cells was determined, and an alkaline phosphatase stain was used as a marker for osteoblastic phenotype. CTPs attached, proliferated, and differentiated on all surfaces. Cells on the smooth PDMS and control surfaces spread and proliferated as colonies in proximity to other cells and migrated in random directions, with cell process lengths of up to 80 microm. In contrast, cells on the PDMS post microtextures grew as sparsely distributed networks of cells, with processes, occasionally up to 300 microm, that appeared to interact with the posts. Cell counts revealed that there were fewer (50%) CTPs on the smooth PDMS surface than were on the glass control surfaces. However, there were consistently more (>144%) CTPs on the PDMS post textures than on the controls. In particular, the 10-microm-in-diameter posts (268%) exhibited a significantly (p < 0.05) greater cell number than did the smooth PDMS.