Issue 40, 2012

Programmed cell adhesion and growth on cell-imprinted polyacrylamide hydrogels

Abstract

Gaining control over cell adhesion and growth is a critical step in microscale tissue engineering, as well as biosensor fabrication, applied cell biology, and high-throughput cell-based screening. Control over cell adhesion and growth is typically achieved by patterning small molecule or macromolecule reagents with affinity for a cell surface receptor onto a non-adhesive surface. These reagents are often susceptible to environmental and/or enzymatic degradation and their preparation and purification increase the overall cost and complexity of surface fabrication. Surface topology can influence cell adhesion and growth; however, engineering a surface with well-defined topology typically requires expensive and/or specialized equipment and/or multi-step processes such as microcontact printing. In this Paper we show that cell-imprinted features on the surface of a polyacrylamide hydrogel act as surface contact cues that promote cell adhesion and growth. In some cases the shape of cell-imprints dramatically affect cell adhesion. Collectively, we demonstrate that cell-imprinting polyacrylamide hydrogels is an inexpensive and straightforward method for programming cell adhesion and growth.

Graphical abstract: Programmed cell adhesion and growth on cell-imprinted polyacrylamide hydrogels

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Mar 2012
Accepted
15 Aug 2012
First published
28 Aug 2012

Soft Matter, 2012,8, 10403-10408

Programmed cell adhesion and growth on cell-imprinted polyacrylamide hydrogels

S. M. DePorter, I. Lui and B. R. McNaughton, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 10403 DOI: 10.1039/C2SM25622C

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