Effects of contact guidance and gravity on L929 cell orientation

Abstract

Contact guidance and external force field are two important factors that influence cell orientation. Microgroove-like patterns on PDMS substrates were fabricated using soft-lithography, and the effects of gravitational field direction relative to the pattern, on L929 cell orientation were investigated. The majority of cells were aligned along the grooves when gravity was parallel to the groove direction, because of contact guidance. When gravity was perpendicular to the groove direction, cell alignment decreased noticeably. Although contact guidance induced by the pattern played a dominant role in determining cell orientation, gravity also had an important influence when the field direction was perpendicular to the groove direction. No synergistic influence on cell alignment was observed when the field direction was parallel to the groove direction.

Left‐Right Symmetry or Asymmetry of Cells on Stripe‐Like Micropatterned Material Surfaces

“…The micropattern with significant cell adhesion contrast enables us to well achieve the contact guidance of cells on material surfaces. While most of contact guidance was found on topological surfaces with some directional roughness, [41][42][43]61] the cells were here orientated on a smooth surface with just a directional cell-adhesion contrast. So, the contact guidance in the present study is itself very interesting.…”

Oriented cellulose hydrogel: Directed tissue regeneration for reducing corneal leukoplakia and managing fungal corneal ulcers

“…Literature reports suggest that cells can recognize surface features of materials, adjusting their size, adhesion, and migration along specific directions in response to topological structures, resulting in highly oriented cell patterns [ 40 , 41 ]. The grooves on the material's surface can impact the balance of cell arrangement, compelling cells to rearrange themselves to adapt to the contacted hydrogel.…”

A Study on Dual-Response Composite Hydrogels Based on Oriented Nanocellulose

“…Cells can adjust their size and orientation along the groove direction. The microstrips on the surface of the hydrogel can regulate the signal transduction of cells and matrix, affecting the cell’s adhesion, the development of cytoskeleton and the movement of the cell, thereby forming highly-oriented cells patterns[ 45 , 46 ]. As shown in Figure 5g , the L929 cells were seeded on the CN+1%HAMA hydrogel scaffold for 7 days and rearranged to adapt to the contacted hydrogel.…”