title: Selective hydrophilic modification of Parylene C films: a new approach to cell micro-patterning for synthetic biology applications.
abstract: We demonstrate a simple, accurate and versatile method to manipulate Parylene C, a material widely known for its high biocompatibility, and transform it to a substrate that can effectively control the cellular microenvironment and consequently affect the morphology and function of the cells in vitro. The Parylene C scaffolds are fabricated by selectively increasing the material's surface water affinity through lithography and oxygen plasma treatment, providing free bonds for attachment of hydrophilic biomolecules. The micro-engineered constructs were tested as culture scaffolds for rat ventricular fibroblasts and neonatal myocytes (NRVM), toward modeling the unique anisotropic architecture of native cardiac tissue. The scaffolds induced the patterning of extracellular matrix compounds and therefore of the cells, which demonstrated substantial alignment compared to typical unstructured cultures. Ca(2+) cycling properties of the NRVM measured at rates of stimulation 0.5-2 Hz were significantly modified with a shorter time to peak and time to 90% decay, and a larger fluorescence amplitude (p < 0.001). The proposed technique is compatible with standard cell culturing protocols and exhibits long-term pattern durability. Moreover, it allows the integration of monitoring modalities into the micro-engineered substrates for a comprehensive interrogation of physiological parameters.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2BT, UK.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Trantidou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Camelliti
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yacoub
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Athanasiou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Toumazou
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Terracciano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Prodromakis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D032383:Myocytes, Cardiac / Q000166:cytology; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014992:Xylenes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D014992:Xylenes; C011055:parylene