Biological surface engineering: a simple system for cell pattern formation.
Biological surface engineering using synthetic biological materials has a great potential for advances in our understanding of complex biological phenomena. We developed a simple system to engineer biologically relevant surfaces using a combination of self-assembling oligopeptide monolayers and microcontact printing (muCP). We designed and synthesized two oligopeptides containing a cell adhesion motif (RADS)n (n = 2 and 3) at the N-terminus, followed by an oligo(alanine) linker and a cysteine residue at the C-terminus. The thiol group of cysteine allows the oligopeptides to attach covalently onto a gold-coated surface to form monolayers. We then microfabricated a variety of surface patterns using the cell adhesion peptides in combination with hexa-ethylene glycol thiolate which resist non-specific adsorption of proteins and cells. The resulting patterns consist of areas either supporting or inhibiting cell adhesion, thus they are capable of aligning cells in a well-defined manner, leading to specific cell array and pattern formations.
Center for Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139-4307, USA. shuguang@mit.edu
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Zhang
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Yan
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Altman
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Lässle
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Nugent
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Frankel
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Lauffenburger
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Whitesides
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Rich
D016475:3T3 Cells / Q000166:cytology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013499:Surface Properties; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D009842:Oligopeptides