Microfabricated surface designs for cell culture and diagnosis

Grooved and holed surfaces with a well fabricated design may serve as microsubstrates for cell culture and microreactors for diagnosis. In this study, the authors prepared chemically treated, micrometer scale grooved and holed glass surfaces by combined surface modification and ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser ablation techniques, as follows. 1) Microcell-culture substrate: Amino group attached glass surfaces, prepared by the treatment with an aminopropylsilane, were condensed with a carboxylated radical initiator. Subsequently, polyacrylamide was grafted by surface initiated radical polymerization to create a very hydrophilic surface layer. Ultraviolet excimer laser beams (KrF: 248 nm) were irradiated through a microscope onto surfaces to create grooves or holes that were 10 and 50 microns in width or diameter, respectively. The depth, depending on the irradiation light strength, ranged from a few to several tenths of a micrometer. On endothelial cell (EC) seeding, ECs adhered and grew on the bottoms of the grooved or holed surface where glass was exposed on ablation. Little cell adhesion was observed on non ablated, grafted surfaces. Endothelial cells aligned along the groove, resulting in very narrow tube like tissue formation, whereas ECs tended to form a multilayered spherical aggregate in a hole. A single cell resided in a 10 microns square hole. 2) Microreactor for diagnosis: The glass surface, treated with a fluorinated silane, was ablated to create round holes. On addition of a few microliters of water, water could be quantitatively transferred into a hole because of the water repellent characteristics of non ablated, fluorinated glass. As a model of a microreactor, enzyme reactions to affect different levels of glucose were carried out in tiny holed surfaces.