Creating ultrathin nanoscopic collagen matrices for biological and biotechnological applications

The biofunctionalization of materials creates interfaces on which proteins, cells, or tissues can fulfill native or desired tasks. Here we report how to control the assembly of type I collagen into well-defined nanoscopic matrices of different patterns. Collagen fibrils in these ultrathin (approximately 3 nm) matrices maintained their native structure as observed in vivo. This opens up the possibility to create programmable biofunctionalized matrices using collagen-binding proteins or proteins fused with collagen-binding domains. Applied to eukaryotic cells, these nanostructured matrices can direct cellular processes such as adhesion, orientation and migration.