Cell guidance by ultrafine topography in vitro

Abstract

Laser holography and microelectronic fabrication techniques have been employed to make grating surfaces in fused quartz with ultrafine period (260 nm) in an attempt to mimic the topography of aligned fibrillar extracellular matrix (ECM), which, in the past, has been shown to affect the behaviour of cells in vitro and in vivo. The alignment of BHK cells, MDCK cells and chick embryo cerebral neurones on 260 nm period grating surfaces (130 nm grooves separated by 130 nm) of various depths (100, 210 and 400 nm) was examined. While all gratings aligned BHK cell populations, the degree of alignment was dependent on depth. The response of single MDCK cells to the grating patterns was both to align precisely to the direction of the gratings, and to elongate; only their elongation was depth-dependent. MDCK cells that were part of epithelial cell islands, and the outgrowth of neurites from chick embryo neurones, were mainly unaffected by the grating surfaces. It is clear that topography on this scale can control cell behaviour, but guidance of this type is strongly dependent on cell type and cell-cell interactions.

The influence of nanotopography on cell behaviour through interactions with the extracellular matrix – A review

“…At the microscale, topographies are in the size range of the cell itself (0.1–100 μm), and thus effect cells at the single cell level. Cell alignment to microtopographical features is termed ‘contact guidance’, which was coined around 1964 when Curtis and Varde demonstrated that fibroblasts can position themselves parallel to microstructures with diameters of 10–30 μm [ [12] , [13] , [14] ]. Nanotopography refers to specific morphological features that are fabricated at the nanoscopic scale (1–100 nm), and are therefore within the same order of magnitude as cell receptors, such as integrins.…”

Current international research into cellulose as a functional nanomaterial for advanced applications

“…These interactions are dependent on cell surface receptors and, when cell attachment occurs, are regulated by integrin pairs that have a defined nanometric spacing between them [51]. The control of cell alignment via topographical features has been known since the late 1980s/early 1990s [52][53][54]. Microscale features with step changes[10 µm and spacings[2 µm inhibit cell migration and spreading [55], whilst nanoscale features with dimensions\70 nm and spacings between 70 and 300 nm disrupt focal adhesions [56].…”

The cardiac nanoenvironment: form and function at the nanoscale

“…Due to the difficulties in measuring and quantifying the influence of nanoscale matrix features on cells in vivo, engineered materials have been designed to allow for the study of cellular responses to nanoscale properties in vitro. Since the first demonstration that cells interact with nanotopographical features of their surroundings back in 1991 (Clark et al 1991 ), the field of nanoengineered materials has made huge advancements in the development of bio-inspired nanoscale substrates and the subsequent study of cellular responses to them (Cavalcanti-Adam et al 2006 ; Dalby et al 2007 ; Schvartzman et al 2011 ). This section will focus on the various material systems that have been developed specifically to study the tissue nanoenvironment and how cells are influenced by such properties.…”