PREFERENTIAL GLIAL-CELL ATTACHMENT TO MICROCONTACT PRINTED SURFACES

Microcontact printing is introduced as a method for fabricating test s urfaces for attachment of cells to chemically patterned silicon surfac es. Tests with astroglial cells indicate that cells attach to microcon tact printed surfaces similarly to surfaces produced by traditional ph otolithographic methods. Astroglial cells attach selectively to 50 mu m wide bars of N-1[3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl]diethylenetriamine (DETA) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on surfaces prepared using variable width spaces generated from microcontact printing with octadecyltrichl orosilane (OTS) as the ink. Our results demonstrate that microcontact printing provides an effective and rapid method for routine production of patterned self-assembled monolayers that can be used for directing cell attachment and studying cell morphology. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce B.V.