Statistical analysis of immuno-functionalized tumor-cell behaviors on nanopatterned substrates

Laser scanning cytometry has been proven as a powerful technology for high-content, high-throughput quantitative analysis of cellular functions in a fully automated manner. It utilizes a large-area fluorescence imaging scheme and rigorous image quantitation algorithms to enable informative analysis of cell samples attached to solid substrates. While this technology represents a powerful approach for high-content screening using cell lines, it has not been applied to the study of tumor-cell behaviors on these solid nanopatterned substrates after several hours of incubation. Herein, we statistically demonstrated functional cellular morphology information, including size, shape, and distribution of the captured cells after 0.5 to 45 h of incubation on nanopatterned substrates, such as silicon nanowires and quartz nanopillars, along with planar glass substrates. With increasing incubation time up to 45 h, we observed that the nanopatterned substrates could have not only increased adhesion and traction forces between cells and nanopatterned substrates, but also limited cell spreading on the substrates compared to the planar glass substrates. On the basis of our results, we suggest that the most important factors to influence the cell behaviors on the three solid substrates are the degree of dimension on cell behaviors and cell traction force.