title: Switchable adhesive substrates: revealing geometry dependence in collective cell behavior.
abstract: Collective cell migration plays a major role in cancer metastasis and wound healing, therefore, several in vitro assays for studying such behavior have been developed. Using photoswitchable surfaces, we studied collective cell expansion behavior from initially precisely controlled adhesive patterns. A non-adhesive poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) layer is conjugated to a glass coverslip via 2-nitrobenzyl groups, which cleave upon exposure to UV light, changing the surface from non-cell-adhesive to cell-adhesive without mechanical interference. Initial cell attaching areas are generated in arbitrary shapes via projection exposure through a photomask. After a growth phase, epithelial cell sheets are released from their confinement by a second illumination allowing for collective cell expansion. Our experiments with epithelial cells show that cluster size and boundary curvature modulate the expansion of the cell sheet and the formation of leader cells. At a certain cluster size, characteristics of the expansion behavior change and cells in the core are hardly affected by the boundary release. With donut-like ring structures, we demonstrate a break in symmetry between the behavior of cells along the outer convex boundary and along the inner concave boundary. Additionally, we observe that collective migration characteristics are modulated by the initial incubation time of the cell sheet.
authors.affiliation: Department New Materials and Biosystems, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudio G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Rolli
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Joachim P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Spatz
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kemkemer
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
mesh_terms: D000269:Adhesives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008027:Light; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000269:Adhesives