| AVS 64th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces Division | Wednesday Sessions |
| Session BI+NS-WeM |
| Session: | Biomaterials and Nanomaterials Fabrication & In Honor of Dave Castner's 65th Birthday: Multitechnique Bio-Surface Characterization I |
| Presenter: | Britta Koch, University of Nottingham, UK |
| Authors: | B. Koch, University of Nottingham, UK A. Vasilevich, Maastricht University, The Netherlands N. Beijer, Maastricht University, The Netherlands J. de Boer, Maastricht University, The Netherlands M.R. Alexander, The University of Nottingham, UK |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
The interaction of cells with their culture substrate is critical to their fate, having a profound impact on cell response and viability. However, complex cell-cell as well as cell-matrix interactions in native tissue make it challenging to emulate in vivo cell behavior in the lab. The design of man-made, biomimetic cell environments hold great potential for biomedical applications like tissue engineering, disease modeling and drug screening. Therefore, suitable biomaterials are sought that can interface with cells and provide adequate physical, chemical and biological characteristics to elicit the desired cell response in a well-defined in vitro environment.
In recent years, microarray technology in combination with high-throughput surface characterization methods has proven to be a valuable tool for the cost-efficient and rapid screening of large libraries of biomaterial candidates. However, until now screening has been performed either on planar samples, focusing on optimizing sample chemistry rather than topography [1] or on topography with no chemical variation [2]. Here we propose a novel platform that augments the chemical screening approach with deterministic control of the topography. This new platform called the ‘ChemoTopo Chip’ allows the systematic investigation of combinatorial effects of well-defined surface chemistry and topography and moves closer to recapitulating the range of 3D cues at play in vivo within an in vitro screen. The first results on the identification of hit combinations supporting mesenchymal stem cell growth are presented and future steps aiming at enhancing our global understanding of the context-dependent cell response are outlined. The ChemoTopo Chip platform contributes to the discovery of novel substrates with the potential to ultimately translate these into biomedical applications. Also, the gathering of data allows to develop surface structure-property relationships from which understanding can be generated to support rational design of the in vitro cell environment.
[1]. Y. Mei, K. Saha, S. R. Bogatyrev, J. Yang, A. L. Hook, Z. I. Kalcioglu, S.-W. Cho, M. Mitalipova, N. Pyzocha, F. Rojas, K. J. Van Vliet, M. C. Davies, M. R. Alexander, R. Langer, R. Jaenisch, D. G. Anderson. Nature Materials 9, 768-778 (2010).
[2]. H. V . Unadkat, M. Hulsman, K. Cornelissen, B. J. Papenburg, R. K. Truckenmüller, A. E. Carpenter, M. Wessling, G. F. Post, M. Netz, M. J. T. Reinders, D. Stamatialis, C. A. Bitterswijk, J. de Boer. PNAS 108, 16565-16570 (2011).