Mechanical Regulation of Cellular Adhesion onto Honeycomb-Patterned Porous Scaffolds by Altering the Elasticity of Material Surfaces

• Published in: Biomacromolecules 2013-04, Vol.14 (4), p.1208-1213
• Main Authors: Kawano, Takahito, Nakamichi, Yuki, Fujinami, So, Nakajima, Ken, Yabu, Hiroshi, Shimomura, Masatsugu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3T3 Cells; Animals; Applied sciences; Biocompatible Materials; Biological and medical sciences; Butadienes - chemistry; Cell Adhesion; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Line; Cell Proliferation; Elasticity; Exact sciences and technology; Fibroblasts - cytology; Fibronectins - analysis; Fibronectins - metabolism; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Hardness; Medical sciences; Mice; Miscellaneous; Polymer industry, paints, wood; Polymers - chemistry; Polymers - metabolism; Surface Properties; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Technology of polymers; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments; Tissue Scaffolds
• ISSN: 1525-7797; 1526-4602
• DOI: 10.1021/bm400202d

In this report, we show the preparation of honeycomb scaffolds for cell culturing by using “breath figure” method, and we found that their mechanical and topographical properties strongly affect the adhesion of fibroblasts. By photo-cross-linking of the poly(1,2-butadiene), the hardness of the honeycomb scaffold can be successfully controlled without any surface chemical changes, and detail modulus values of scaffolds were measured by atomic force microscopy. We found that only small numbers of the cells adhered on the softer honeycomb scaffolds, which has even higher modulus value than conventional gels, comparing with flat films and a hard honeycomb scaffold. These results indicate that the elastomeric honeycomb substrates are useful for evaluating the effect of the mechanical signal-derived geometry on the transduction system of cells.