Cell Adhesion and Growth on the Anodized Aluminum Oxide Membrane

Nanotopological cues are popular tools for in vivo investigation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cellular microenvironments. The ECM is composed of multiple components and generates a complex microenvironment. The development of accurate in vivo methods for the investigation of ECM are important for disease diagnosis and therapy, as well as for studies on cell behavior. Here, we fabricated anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes using sulfuric and oxalic acid under controlled voltage and temperature. The membranes were designed to possess three different pore and interpore sizes, AAO-1, AAO-2, and AAO-3 membranes, respectively. These membranes were used as tools to investigate nanotopology-signal induced cell behavior. Cancerous cells, specifically, the OVCAR-8 cell-line, were cultured on porous AAO membranes and the effects of these membranes on cell shape, proliferation, and viability were studied. AAO-1 membranes bearing small sized pores were found to maintain the spreading shape of the cultured cells. Cells cultured on AAO-2 and AAO-3 membranes, bearing large pore-sized AAO membranes, changed shape from spreading to rounding. Furthermore, cellular area decreased when cells were cultured on all three AAO membranes that confirmed decreased levels of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Additionally, OVCAR-8 cells exhibited increased proliferation on AAO membranes possessing various pore sizes, indicating the importance of the nanosurface structure in regulating cell behaviors, such as cell proliferation. Our results suggest that porous-AAO membranes induced nanosurface regulated cell behavior as focal adhesion altered the intracellular organization of the cytoskeleton. Our results may find potential applications as tools in in vivo cancer research studies.