title: Micropatterning strategies to engineer controlled cell and tissue architecture in vitro.
abstract: Micropatterning strategies, which enable control over cell and tissue architecture in vitro, have emerged as powerful platforms for modelling tissue microenvironments at different scales and complexities. Here, we provide an overview of popular micropatterning techniques, along with detailed descriptions, to guide new users through the decision making process of which micropatterning procedure to use, and how to best obtain desired tissue patterns. Example techniques and the types of biological observations that can be made are provided from the literature. A focus is placed on microcontact printing to obtain co-cultures of patterned, confluent sheets, and the challenges associated with optimizing this protocol. Many issues associated with microcontact printing, however, are relevant to all micropatterning methodologies. Finally, we briefly discuss challenges in addressing key limitations associated with current micropatterning technologies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: D'Arcangelo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Alison P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: McGuigan
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D013499:Surface Properties; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: co-culture; in vitro culture platforms; micropatterning; soft lithography; tissue architecture; tissue engineering