title: Functionalized PDMS with Versatile and Scalable Surface Roughness Gradients for Cell Culture.
abstract: This manuscript describes a simple and versatile approach to engineering surface roughness gradients via combination of microfluidics and photopolymerization. Through UV-mediated polymerization, N-isopropylacrylamide with concentration gradients are successfully grafted onto PDMS surface, leading to diverse roughness degrees on the obtained PDMS substrate. Furthermore, the extent of surface roughness can be controllably regulated via tuning the flow rate ratio between the monomer solution and deionized water. Average roughness ranging from 2.6±0.7 nm to 163.6±11.7 nm has been well-achieved in this work. Such PDMS samples are also demonstrated to be capable of working as supporting substrates for controlling cell adhesion or detachment. Because of the different degrees of surface roughness on a single substrate, our method provides an effective approach for designing advanced surfaces for cell culture. Finally, the thermosensitive property of N-isopropylacrylamide makes our sample furnish as another means for controlling the cell detachment from the substrates with correspondence to the surrounding temperature.
authors.forename: Bingpu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: ‡Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University-The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xinghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ziran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Yibo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: ⊥The Soft Matter and Interdisciplinary Research Institute, College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: ‡Biomedical Research Institute, Shenzhen Peking University-The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China.|⊥The Soft Matter and Interdisciplinary Research Institute, College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Weijia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D000178:Acrylamides / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D058105:Polymerization; D013499:Surface Properties; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D000178:Acrylamides; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; C013830:baysilon; C067295:N-isopropylacrylamide
keywords: N-isopropylacrylamide; PDMS; cell culture; microfluidics; roughness gradients