title: Silk film topography directs collective epithelial cell migration.
abstract: The following study provides new insight into how surface topography dictates directed collective epithelial cell sheet growth through the guidance of individual cell movement. Collective cell behavior of migrating human corneal limbal-epithelial cell sheets were studied on highly biocompatible flat and micro-patterned silk film surfaces. The silk film edge topography guided the migratory direction of individual cells making up the collective epithelial sheet, which resulted in a 75% increase in total culture elongation. This was due to a 3-fold decrease in cell sheet migration rate efficiency for movement perpendicular to the topography edge. Individual cell migration direction is preferred in the parallel approach to the edge topography where localization of cytoskeletal proteins to the topography's edge region is reduced, which results in the directed growth of the collective epithelial sheet. Findings indicate customized biomaterial surfaces may be created to direct both the migration rate and direction of tissue epithelialization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Mark I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012831:Bombyx / Q000737:chemistry; D002450:Cell Communication; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013499:Surface Properties; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014741:Video Recording
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D047011:Silk