Research into effects of surface wettability and roughness on mouse fibroblasts adhesion and spreading can provide insights into the mechanisms of cell growth in tissue engineering or the tumor metastasis. To study the wettability effect on cell adhesion, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) susbtrates were prepared. The results were compared by control experiments with cells cultured in commercial petri dishes. It has been found that hydrophilic PDMS substrates are good candidates for mouse fibroblasts culture although the adhesion time of mouse fibroblasts on such substrates is about one hour longer than those in the commercial culture dishes. This result encourages us to further study cellular behavior on PDMS substrate, as PDMS is bio-compatible and ea...[ Read more ]

Research into effects of surface wettability and roughness on mouse fibroblasts adhesion and spreading can provide insights into the mechanisms of cell growth in tissue engineering or the tumor metastasis. To study the wettability effect on cell adhesion, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) susbtrates were prepared. The results were compared by control experiments with cells cultured in commercial petri dishes. It has been found that hydrophilic PDMS substrates are good candidates for mouse fibroblasts culture although the adhesion time of mouse fibroblasts on such substrates is about one hour longer than those in the commercial culture dishes. This result encourages us to further study cellular behavior on PDMS substrate, as PDMS is bio-compatible and easy to pattern using standard soft lithography technology. We also investigated cellular behaviors on silicon substrates with various micro/nano structures. The results show that cells hardly spread on the silicon substrates with nanopillars only, and they tend to aggregate to form clusters on flat silicon substrates. Two types of mouse fibroblasts patterns were found on silicon substrates with micro-pillars only, and dual-scaled micro/nanopillar structures. On the former, cells adhered to the top of micro pillars and formed a circle that outlined the pillar shape; while on the latter, cells could also form patterns while not so many cells adhered on the top. Cells cultured on substrates with only micropillars at a distance of 60μm also formed a 30 architecture from the bottom to the top. These results could be exploited for potential development of new methods for cell patterning in the future.