Ultrathin SU-8 membrane for highly efficient tunable cell patterning and massively parallel large biomolecular...

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Cell Biology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Cell patterning is crucial for single-cell analysis and applications in medicine.
• Existing methods often lack efficiency and throughput for complex biomolecule delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, efficient, and high-throughput technique for cell patterning.
• To enable precise delivery of diverse biomolecules into patterned cells.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 10 μm ultrathin 3D SU-8 micro-stencil membrane with micro-holes for cell culture.
• Employed titanium micro-rings activated by infrared light pulses for biomolecule transfection.
• Tested with mouse fibroblast L929, human cervical SiHa, and human neuroblastoma IMR32 cells.

Main Results:

• Achieved high reproducible cell patterning efficiencies (80.5%–89.6%) with minimal defects.
• Demonstrated successful transfection of various biomolecules (dye, dextran, siRNA, enzyme) with high efficiencies (up to 97%).
• Maintained high cell viability (up to 100%) post-transfection.

Conclusions:

• The SU-8 micro-stencil membrane offers a compact, reusable, and efficient platform for cell patterning and biomolecule delivery.
• This technique holds significant potential for advancing diagnostics and therapeutic applications.
• The method enables precise control over cell arrangement and molecular delivery at high throughput.