title: Orthogonal Morphological Feature Size and Density Gradients for Exploring Synergistic Effects in Biology.
abstract: Gradient surfaces enable rapid screening and high-throughput investigations in various fields, such as biology and tribology. A new method is described for the preparation of material-independent morphological gradients, in which the density and height of roughness features are varied along two orthogonal axes. A polystyrene-particle-density gradient was produced by a dip-coating process on titanium-oxide-coated silicon wafers. A controlled exposure to ultraviolet light enabled the generation of a particle-height gradient in the orthogonal direction. These gradients were replicated to generate material-independent morphology gradients. MC3T3 cell proliferation studies were performed on titanium-coated replicas and showed a higher cell density on the high-feature-density region of the gradient. The cell area coverage was found to increase with decreasing particle height.
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Clément V M
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Cremmel
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zink
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maniura-Weber
authors.affiliation: §Laboratory for Interfaces, Soft matter and Assembly, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Isa
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nicholas D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Spencer
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D051379:Mice; D010316:Particle Size; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D012825:Silicon