Cell fluidics: producing cellular streams on micropatterned synthetic surfaces

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Cell Biology
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Controlling cell migration is crucial for understanding biological processes and developing new therapies.
• Existing methods for patterning cell-adhesive molecules can be complex and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop fast, reliable, and easy-to-implement methods for fabricating large protein patterns on synthetic substrates.
• To control the direction and speed of cell locomotion and migration using patterned surfaces.

Main Methods:

• Functionalization of polystyrene and Teflon surfaces with micrometric stripes of laminin using lithographically controlled wetting (LCW) and micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC).
• Noncovalent immobilization of proteins, preserving their adhesion capability.
• Cell culture and observation of migration dynamics on patterned surfaces for over 20 hours.

Main Results:

• Successful fabrication of large-scale protein patterns on diverse materials.
• Cells adhered, remained viable, and migrated along the patterned lanes.
• Cell migration dynamics were significantly influenced by substrate surface chemistry and culturing conditions.
• Juxtaposition of patterned and bare Teflon surfaces led to slow and confined cell movement.
• Effective guidance of cell migration was observed on patterned conventional cell culture dishes, even with serum proteins present.

Conclusions:

• Straightforward functionalization techniques can create well-defined, long-range cellular streams on synthetic substrates.
• These methods are applicable to a broad class of materials under conventional cell-culturing conditions.
• The developed patterning procedure effectively confines cell migration along predefined patterns, offering potential for various biomedical and biotechnological applications.