Correlation of astroglial cell function on micro-patterned surfaces with specific geometric parameters

Microcontact printing techniques were used to modify silicon substrates wit h arrays of hexagonal features of N-1[3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl]diethylene triamine (DETA) surrounded by octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS), which are hyd rophilic, cell-adhesive and hydrophobic, non-adhesive organosilanes, respec tively. In the presence of serum proteins, LRM55 cell adhesion and morpholo gy on these modified surfaces were best correlated to the width of the cell -adhesive features. On surfaces modified with small (5 mu m in width) cell- adhesive features, LRM55 cells elaborated only thin processes. As feature w idth was increased, cells on these surfaces exhibited increased cell spread ing and elaborated wide processes. On surfaces modified with large (>35 mu m in width) features, single cells adhered to and spread upon individual DE TA features. In a similar fashion, LRM55 cell adhesion density increased wi th increasing feature width; this correlation could be represented by a sim ple, second-order relation, and was independent of all other measures of pa ttern geometry. The results of this study provide evidence that micro-patte rning may be effective in controlling astrocyte interaction with implant ma terials. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.