Passive contact guidance of fibroblast cells using consecutive trapezoidal micropatterns

초록

Cell migration on micropatterned substrates is a complex process regulated by cell-substrate interactions. This paper presents a passive method for guiding the migration of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts using consecutive trapezoidal micropatterns, made of a biocompatible photopolymer (OrmoComp (R)), to provide tapered micro-features on the cells. The cell migration paths measured from our platforms quantitatively address the dependence of the migratory behavior of the cells on the tapered micro-features. Most of the cells on the micropatterns have moved in a converging direction rather than in a diverging one; migration speed on the micropatterns has been noticeably faster than that on flat substrates. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4799169]

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