Invited Paper MB+BI-MoA8
Bioresponse to Engineered Topographies

Monday, October 15, 2007, 4:20 pm, Room 609

This study examines hierarchical combinations in polymers that have been used to produce engineered surfaces, which elicit micro-topographical and chemical cues in biological systems. Nature provides complex chemical forms of polymers that are manipulated through both conformational and configurational forms to yield specific functions. Our recent studies have been focused on the design of polymeric surfaces that can be used as models in the study of biological adhesion mechanisms. The recent expansion of bioengineering has increased our need for better models of cellular adhesion and chemical manipulation of surfaces. A process commonly referred to as contact guidance has been shown to modulate cell shape and function in a variety of cell types. Control of endothelial cell (EC) shape using micropatterned chemical substrates is shown in numerous studies by influencing cell adhesion to proteins, which selectively adsorb to the chemical micropatterns. This presentation will focus on the polymer structures that we have been developing for a topographically modified surface with a range of surface energies and bulk modulus values developed through nanostructural modifications on larger microstructures. In this model, we have been able to study the interactions of the biological-induced factors with the polymer chemistry.