Supersoft lithography: candy-based fabrication of soft silicone microstructures

Moraes, Christopher; Labuz, Joseph M.; Shao, Yue; Fu, Jianping; Takayama, Shuichi

doi:10.1039/c5lc00722d

Cited by 39 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…1c). The values are in good agreement with previous studies, 24,27 and the elastic modulus of the ultrasoft PDMS was nearly equal to that of brain tissue. 21 We next evaluated the wettability of the PDMS surface by measuring water contact angles.…”

Section: Materials Properties Of Silicone Scaffoldssupporting

confidence: 92%

Suppression of hypersynchronous network activity in cultured cortical neurons using an ultrasoft silicone scaffold

2020

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The spontaneous activity pattern of cortical neurons in dissociated culture is characterized by burst firing that is highly synchronized among a wide population of cells. The degree of synchrony, however, is excessively higher than that in cortical tissues. Here, we employed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomers to establish a novel system for culturing neurons on a scaffold with an elastic modulus resembling brain tissue, and investigated the effect of the scaffold's elasticity on network activity patterns in cultured rat cortical neurons. Using whole-cell patch clamp to assess the scaffold effect on the development of synaptic connections, we found that the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic current, as well as the frequency of spontaneous transmissions, was reduced in neuronal networks grown on an ultrasoft PDMS with an elastic modulus of 0.5 kPa. Furthermore, the ultrasoft scaffold was found to suppress neural correlations in the spontaneous activity of the cultured neuronal network. The dose of GsMTx-4, an antagonist of stretch-activated cation channels (SACs), required to reduce the generation of the events below 1.0 event/min on PDMS substrates was lower than that for neurons on a glass substrate. This suggests that the difference in the baseline level of SAC activation is a molecular mechanism underlying the alteration in neuronal network activity depending on scaffold stiffness. Our results demonstrate the potential application of PDMS with biomimetic elasticity as cell-culture scaffold for bridging the in vivo-in vitro gap in neuronal systems.

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Section: Materials Properties Of Silicone Scaffoldssupporting

confidence: 92%

Suppression of hypersynchronous network activity in cultured cortical neurons using an ultrasoft silicone scaffold

2020

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“…Furthermore, the coating process must be readily applied to custom‐designed wires for the technique to have broad applicability. To meet these criteria, we chose to develop a coating process for the silicone rubber polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS; Sylgard 184; Dow Corning), based on its biocompatibility, low thermal conductivity (0.16–0.18 W m −1 K −1 ), historical use as an implantable encapsulant for electronics and low, tunable mechanical rigidity (0.1 kPa to 1 MPa) …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphodynamic Tissues via Integrated Programmable Shape Memory Actuators

Kalashnikov

Moraes

2019

Adv Funct Materials

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Manipulating the shape of preformed living tissues can present a novel fabrication route toward complex biological architectures. However, external manipulation of tissues can be challenging to implement robustly at multiple length scales and with high degrees of freedom, particularly in soft fibrous tissue constructs. Here, a versatile platform is developed to drive soft tissue morphodynamics using embeddable shape memory actuators that generate multiscale, repetitive, and highly customized tissue deformation on demand. To achieve this, a thermally isolating coating technique is designed and developed for programmable shape memory wires, which protects surrounding biological materials from cytotoxic heating effects during wire actuation. The coated tissue actuators (CTAs) can then be embedded in engineered tissues and activated to produce both large-and small-scale tissue deformations in a highly customized and reproducible manner. Using this strategy, tissues can be forced to adopt specified shapes, with precise control over cell elongation and orientation within an encapsulating matrix. Furthermore, the system can produce predictable, highly localized, and customizable strains within fibrous matrices, capable of elongating cells and biasing their orientation within degrees of a desired direction. This strategy may hence have broad applicability in both applied tissue biofabrication and for fundamental studies of cell-matrix interactions.

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“…Adapted with permission from Ref. [134]. F) Wax molds are generated via printing and used to generate PMs for 2D and G) 3D, including bridged architectures microfluidic applications.…”

Section: Sacrificial Mastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sylgard 527 (E � 1 kPa) was cast against this hard candy master and the sugar dissolved away in warm water, leaving behind an undamaged replicate of the structure in the softer Sylgard 527 silicone formulation ( Figure 5D, E). [134] This method may be helpful to polymers with different wetting characteristics in addition to mechanical incompatibilities.…”

Section: Sacrificial Mastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergent Soft Lithographic Tools for the Fabrication of Functional Polymeric Microstructures

2019

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Polymeric microstructures (PMs) are useful to a broad range of technologies applicable to, for example, sensing, energy storage, and soft robotics. Due to the diverse application space of PMs, many techniques (e. g., photolithography, 3D printing, micromilling, etc.) have been developed to fabricate these structures. Stemming from their generality and unique capabilities, the tools encompassed by soft lithography (e. g., replica molding, microcontact printing, etc.), which use soft elastomeric materials as masters in the fabrication of PMs, are particularly relevant. By taking advantage of the characteristics of elastomeric masters, particularly their mechanical and chemical properties, soft lithography has enabled the use of non‐planar substrates and relatively inexpensive equipment in the generation of many types of PMs, redefining existing communities and creating new ones. Traditionally, these elastomeric masters have been produced from relief patterns fabricated using photolithography; however, recent efforts have led to the emergence of new methods that make use of masters that are self‐forming, dynamic in their geometric and chemical properties, 3D in architecture, and/or sacrificial (i. e., easily removed/released using phase changes). These “next generation” soft lithographic masters include self‐assembled liquid droplets, microscale balloons, templates derived from natural materials, and hierarchically microstructured surfaces. The new methods of fabrication supported by these unique masters enable access to numerous varieties of PMs (e. g., those with hierarchical microstructures, overhanging features, and 3D architectures) that would not be possible following established methods of soft lithography. This review explores these emergent soft lithographic methods, addressing their operational principles and the application space they can impact.

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Supersoft lithography: candy-based fabrication of soft silicone microstructures

Cited by 39 publications

References 38 publications

Suppression of hypersynchronous network activity in cultured cortical neurons using an ultrasoft silicone scaffold

Suppression of hypersynchronous network activity in cultured cortical neurons using an ultrasoft silicone scaffold

Morphodynamic Tissues via Integrated Programmable Shape Memory Actuators

Emergent Soft Lithographic Tools for the Fabrication of Functional Polymeric Microstructures

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