Surface functionalization for protein and cell patterning

The interaction of biological systems with synthetic material surfaces is an important issue for many biological applications such as implanted devices, tissue engineering, cell-based sensors and assays, and more generally biologic studies performed ex vivo. To ensure reliable outcomes, the main challenge resides in the ability to design and develop surfaces or artificial micro-environment that mimic 'natural environment' in interacting with biomolecules and cells without altering their function and phenotype. At this effect, microfabrication, surface chemistry and material science play a pivotal role in the design of advanced in-vitro systems for cell culture applications. In this chapter, we discuss and describe different techniques enabling the control of cell-surface interactions, including the description of some techniques for immobilization of ligands for controlling cell-surface interactions and some methodologies for the creation of well confined cell rich areas.