Quantitative Control of Protein and Cell Interaction with Nanostructured Surfaces by Cluster Assembling

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science and Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Cellular Mechanobiology

Background:

• Smart prosthetics, tissue engineering scaffolds, and organ-on-a-chip devices require control over biotic/abiotic interfaces.
• The extracellular matrix (ECM) serves as a natural nanoscale template influencing cellular responses.
• Understanding ECM nanotopography's role in mechanotransduction is crucial but limited by complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a large-scale, bottom-up approach for fabricating surfaces with controlled nanoscale disorder.
• To quantitatively study the effects of nanotopography on biological entities, particularly protein adsorption and cellular responses.
• To engineer biomimetic surfaces for advanced applications in regenerative medicine and bio-interfacing.

Main Methods:

• Utilized supersonic cluster beam deposition (SCBD) to assemble titania and zirconia clusters into nanostructured surfaces.
• Employed scaling laws to quantitatively control surface roughness and asperity layout over large areas.
• Developed a high-throughput protein surface interaction microarray (PSIM) to analyze protein adsorption and binding affinity.

Main Results:

• Nanoscale roughness significantly influenced surface isoelectric point and wettability, key for biological entity adhesion.
• Protein adsorption increased with roughness beyond specific area expectations, while binding affinity decreased.
• Surface asperities mimicked ECM nanotopography, regulating cell adhesion, integrin clustering, and mechanotransductive signaling.

Conclusions:

• SCBD offers a scalable method to create biomimetic nanotopographical surfaces.
• Controlled nanoscale surface features regulate protein interactions and cellular mechanobiology, impacting cell fate.
• This approach advances the design of functional biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.