Fabrication of Polymeric Replicas of Cell Surfaces with Nanoscale Resolution

Abstract

We report an approach for fabricating biomimetic surface replicas of cells with nanoscale resolution. Fixed cells serve as a template for a two-stage replica molding process. Cast from the template, the impression replica contains a reproduction of cellular topographical features indented into its surface, and cast from the impression replica, the relief replica contains a copy of these features protruding from its surface. Various polymers and cells can be utilized, and scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and white light interferometry analyses confirm the replication of nanoscale features. These replicas are useful for investigating cellular function and for biomimetic tissue engineering.

Efficient myogenic commitment of human mesenchymal stem cells on biomimetic materials replicating myoblast topography

“…Myogenic differentiation of hMSCs was observed with expression of myogenin and MHC through immunostaining and higher gene expression levels of MyoD, Myog, Myh13, and MRF4 compared to the control flat substrate. This finding is in accordance with previous reports that cell-imprinted substrate can direct target cells to adopt the morphology of the substrate and influence cellular behaviors [18,19]. Cell shape that is a result of cytoskeletal actin filament organization is influenced by the surface topography, such as line pattern [15].…”

“…However, this simple geometrical line pattern was not sufficient to provide contact guidance to mimic the native myogenic cell morphology. Recently, the Hoffman-Kim and Parak groups have demonstrated the fabrication of biomimetic replicas of cell templates utilizing a soft lithography technique with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) [18,19]. In both studies, PDMS was able to capture the characteristics of the cell template, but was limited in the submicron scale patterning due to the condition of the material [20].…”

The use of plant waxes as templates for micro- and nanopatterning of surfaces

“…The ''lost wax'' process used here is an old (4000+ years) method of metal casting that has the advantage of being able to produce multiple copies from a single template. For micro-and nanostructures, the twostep method of surface microreplication has previously been used for making copies of complex biological microstructures [7,20], with clear details of relatively long outgrowths (10-30 lm), high aspect ratios (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) and small structures (0.02 lm).…”

“…The replicating technique is a simple, quick, and reliable way of surface moulding with the precision of a few tens of nanometers [17,24,5]. There are one-and two-step versions for generation of negative and positive moulds, respectively.…”

Polystyrene replicas of neuronal basal lamina act as excellent guides for regenerating neurites

“…Soft lithography has earlier been used to create artificial geometrical patterns to direct cell outgrowth [9] and to reproduce tissues [10] and cells [11,12]. The concept of making replicas of the extracted nerve basal lamina is new.…”