Early Keratinocyte Differentiation on Micropillar Interfaces

Abstract

We employed topographical patterning to analyze early keratinocyte differentiation on top of microfabricated pillar arrays. Fibronectin immobilized on pillar "heads" yielded a nucleus-associated granular keratin 1 (K1) pattern in immortalized human gingival keratinocytes (IHGK) at pillar interspaces of 14 µm. Decreasing distances of 11and 8 µm revealed cytoplasmic extension of the early differentiation marker K1 on poly-(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) pillars. The most extensive cytoplasmic K1 protein distribution noted at the smallest pillar scale coincided with higher ratios of K1 mRNA gene transcription. These experiments suggest that early keratinocyte differentiation was governed by the topographical characteristics of the pillar pattern. Moreover, they form the basis to study cell functions such as differentiation in a defined topologically structured environment.

Mesoporous titanium dioxide coating for metallic implants

“…[4][5][6][7] Many publications are concentrated with fabricating different roughness and specific topography of biomaterials' surfaces [8][9][10][11][12] aimed to improve cytocompatibility of the surface. In addition, porous surfaces on biomedical implants, such as HA coatings, 13,14 can be used for drug delivery purposes.…”

Connective‐Tissue Fibroblasts Established on Micropillar Interfaces are Pivotal for Epithelial‐Tissue Morphogenesis

“…To detect the traction forces that cells or biomolecules exert on their underlying substrates, microarrays of elastic pillars or posts which are biofunctionalized with extracellular-matrix constituents, such as fibronectin (FN) for cell adhesion are currently widely used. [1][2][3][4][5] In addition, flat or planar flexible substrates are also suitable tools to calculate forces exerted by cells on their microenvironment. [6][7][8][9][10] In distinction to elastic pillars, planar elastomeric surfaces are more easily fabricated.…”

“…To allow for discrete cell adhesion and calculation of traction forces, only the pillar heads were biofunctionalized with FN. [4] Using the abovedescribed defined microenvironment, we first attempted to establish GCTFs by seeding 7.8 Â 10 3 cells per cm 2 . Figure 1A shows the adhesion of single and confluent GCTFs on the FN-coated pillar heads, 24 h after seeding, by phase-contrast microscopy and raster electron microscopy (REM), as demonstrated in the corresponding inset.…”

Micro- and Nanopatterning of Surfaces Employing Self Assembly of Nanoparticles and Its Application in Biotechnology and Biomedical Engineering

“…NSL has been used to generate surfaces to study the effect of well defined nano-topologies and chemistries on cellular functions such as adhesion (Dalby, Berry et al 2004;Dalby, Riehle et al 2004;Graeter, Huang et al 2007;Huang, Graeter et al 2009), proliferation, endocytosis (Dalby, Berry et al 2004), differentiation (Steinberg, Schulz et al 2006), apoptosis (Ranzinger, Krippner-Heidenreich et al 2009) and gene regulation. In particular, the group of Spatz et.al.…”

“…This results in regular arrays of nano-sized anchoring sites for biochemical functionalization via thiol chemistry. Control of spacing, order and biochemical function immobilized onto gold nanospots allowed for in depth studies of cellular functions (Spatz, Mössmer et al 2000;Roos, Ulmer et al 2005;Steinberg, Schulz et al 2006;Graeter, Huang et al 2007;Huang, Graeter et al 2009;Ranzinger, Krippner-Heidenreich et al 2009). …”