A novel rearranged polydimethylsiloxane substrate for human fibroblast cells: The case of biomimetic effects on binding, morphology, and growth

Mahdavian, Reza; Naderi-Manesh, Hossein

A novel rearranged polydimethylsiloxane substrate for human fibroblast cells: The case of biomimetic effects on binding, morphology, and growth

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

Reza Mahdavian ¹

Hossein Naderi-Manesh ²

¹ Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

² Professor, Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran,

Abstract

Cell substrates play a crucial role in tissue engineering and biomaterial science. Various studies are performed to develop the appropriate cell substrates for using in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, a biocompatible substrate that mimics the native extracellular matrix properties with specified surface topography as a biomimicry factor is necessary under ''the novel cell substrates development'' approaches. Our aim in the current study was to design, synthesize, and characterize a substrate with aligned nanometric arrays on the surface. The rapid and easy capabilities of Polydimethylsiloxane to receive chemical and physical characteristics with simple modifications, make it a promised candidate for the cell substrate. The obtained results from the atomic force and scanning electron microscopy showed the formation of 305±19 and 571±141 nanometers wrinkled nanoarrays after regulating the substrate under lateral traction during the plasma treatment times of 100 and 200s. Then, the behavior of a human foreskin fibroblast cell, in terms of adhesion, growth, viability, and morphology on this substrate was investigated. Increasing the plasma treatment time increased both nanoarray size and surface hydrophilicity, resulting in improved 17 and 46% of cell attachment quality, respectively. Additionally, the presence of the designed nanowrinkles surprisingly improved the number of the attached cells. The nanowrinkles caused the cells to align perfectly through the substrate's surface due to the contact guidance phenomena. Consequently, the biocompatible Polydimethylsiloxane substrate of this study with suitable chemical, mechanical, and physical properties showed fit capacities as a novel aligned cell culture platform.

Keywords

Cell substrates

Cell morphology

Fibroblast cells

Nanowrinkles

Polydimethylsiloxane

20.1001.1.23222115.1400.13.1.8.7

Subjects

Nanotechnology

Bonnans, C., J. Chou, and Z. Werb, Remodelling the extracellular matrix in development and disease. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 2014. 15(12): p. 786-801.
Kim, D.H., et al., Matrix nanotopography as a regulator of cell function. J Cell Biol, 2012. 197(3): p. 351-60.
Higuchi, A., et al., Physical cues of biomaterials guide stem cell differentiation fate. Chem Rev, 2013. 113(5): p. 3297-328.
Wong, S.T., et al., Anisotropic rigidity sensing on grating topography directs human mesenchymal stem cell elongation. Biomech Model Mechanobiol, 2014. 13(1): p. 27-39.
Tamiello, C., et al., Heading in the Right Direction: Understanding Cellular Orientation Responses to Complex Biophysical Environments. Cell Mol Bioeng, 2016. 9: p. 12-37.
Leclech, C. and C. Villard, Cellular and Subcellular Contact Guidance on Microfabricated Substrates. Front Bioeng Biotechnol, 2020. 8: p. 551505.
Buskermolen, A.B.C., et al., Cellular Contact Guidance Emerges from Gap Avoidance. Cell Rep Phys Sci, 2020. 1(5): p. 100055.
Baptista, D., et al., Overlooked? Underestimated? Effects of Substrate Curvature on Cell Behavior. Trends Biotechnol, 2019. 37(8): p. 838-854.
Cheng, D., et al., Studies of 3D directed cell migration enabled by direct laser writing of curved wave topography. Biofabrication, 2019. 11(2): p. 021001.
Khalili, A.A. and M.R. Ahmad, A Review of Cell Adhesion Studies for Biomedical and Biological Applications. Int J Mol Sci, 2015. 16(8): p. 18149-84.
Nguyen, T.D. and Y. Gu, Investigation of Cell-Substrate Adhesion Properties of Living Chondrocyte by Measuring Adhesive Shear Force and Detachment Using AFM and Inverse FEA. Scientific Reports, 2016. 6(1): p. 38059.
Lee, I., et al., Investigation of wound healing process guided by nano-scale topographic patterns integrated within a microfluidic system. PLoS One, 2018. 13(7): p. e0201418.
Saito, A.C., et al., Contact guidance of smooth muscle cells is associated with tension-mediated adhesion maturation. Exp Cell Res, 2014. 327(1): p. 1-11.
Ray, A., et al., Anisotropic forces from spatially constrained focal adhesions mediate contact guidance directed cell migration. Nat Commun, 2017. 8: p. 14923.
Chuah, Y.J., et al., Surface modifications to polydimethylsiloxane substrate for stabilizing prolonged bone marrow stromal cell culture. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces, 2020. 191: p. 110995.
Ruben, B., et al., Oxygen plasma treatments of polydimethylsiloxane surfaces: effect of the atomic oxygen on capillary flow in the microchannels. Micro & Nano Letters, 2017. 12(10): p. 754-757.
Kim, B., K.P. ET, and I. Papautsky, Long-term stability of plasma oxidized PDMS surfaces. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc, 2004. 2004: p. 5013-6.
Nguyen, T.D. and Y. Gu, Investigation of Cell-Substrate Adhesion Properties of Living Chondrocyte by Measuring Adhesive Shear Force and Detachment Using AFM and Inverse FEA. Sci Rep, 2016. 6: p. 38059.
Leclech, C. and A.I. Barakat, Is there a universal mechanism of cell alignment in response to substrate topography? Cytoskeleton (Hoboken), 2021. 78(6): p. 284-292.
Ermis, M., E. Antmen, and V. Hasirci, Micro and Nanofabrication methods to control cell-substrate interactions and cell behavior: A review from the tissue engineering perspective. Bioact Mater, 2018. 3(3): p. 355-369.