BV‐2 microglial cells sense micro‐nanotextured silicon surface topology

Abstract

Artificial biomimetic substrates provide useful models for studying cell adhesion, signaling, and differentiation. This article describes biological interactions with a new type of tunable, micro-nanotextured silicon substrate, generated by irradiation of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon film with a large beam, excimer laser (248 nm). In this study, we demonstrate that BV-2 microglial cells can sense differences in laser processed silicon surface topology over the range of 30 nm to 2 μm, where they undergo marked morphogenic changes with increasing feature size. The cells adopt a more elongated shape in the presence of the modified surface structure and exhibit increased levels of actin-rich microdomains, suggesting enhanced adhesion. The excimer laser modification of hydrogenated amorphous silicon to generate micro-nanostructures realizes large area benefits as well as providing a biomaterial where the external and internal structure can be altered and tuned for various applications.

Plasticity of primary microglia on micropatterned geometries and spontaneous long-distance migration in microfluidic channels

“…Microglia respond to micro- nano-structured pits, protrusions and grooves with altered morphology, adhesion, and directional growth [19]. In our work, we establish that primary microglia retain in vitro the intrinsic competence of modifying their structure in response to contact guidance cues.…”

“…To this aim, we employed microstructured pillar-shaped and line - grating geometries produced on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) by standard soft lithography techniques, and two-layer microfabrication photolithography. While the use of artificial bio-mimetic microtextured substrates and microfluidic devices [13] was mostly exploited for cancer cells [14-16] and neurons [17,18], only few studies were performed so far on microglia [19,20]. …”

The role of the surface on microglia function: implications for central nervous system tissue engineering

“…The chemistry of the surface was found to influence the cytokine release profile of microglia depending on its hydrophobicity [18]. In what concerns surface topography, the effect of nanostructured silicone or poly(dimethylsiloxane) surfaces on microglia morphology, adhesion [19,20] or motility [19] was also investigated.…”

Schwann Cell Contact Guidance versus Boundary ­Interaction in Functional Wound Healing along Nano and Microstructured Membranes

“…Contact guidance describes the phenomenon by which cells respond to the extracellular nanotopography by adapting their morphology, orientation, and/or motility . One promising approach relies on the exploitation of nano/microengineering techniques to produce nanostructured surfaces, which were shown to be capable of tuning neuronal and glial cell differentiation, polarity, migration, neurite orientation, and even stem cell fate . Nano/microgratings (GRs), anisotropic topographies composed by alternating lines of grooves and ridges with lateral dimension typically down to hundreds of nanometers, are a category of substrates that were intensively investigated and are often considered the most effective geometry to induce cell alignment and directional migration based on cell‐contact interaction only …”