title: Controlling cell growth with tailorable 2D nanoholes arrays.
abstract: A facile and reproducible route that can lead to two-dimensional arrays of nanopores in thin polymer films is demonstrated. The formation of the pores in the polymer films involves breath figure phenomenon and occurs during the film deposition by spin coating. The formation of nanoporous thin films takes only few seconds, and the method does not require complex equipment or expensive chemicals. This method also constitutes a straightforward approach to control the size of the pores formed in thin films. Besides allowing control over the average pore size of the porous films, the use of dynamic deposition with the breath figure phenomenon causes the reduction in the pore size to nanometer scale. The nanoporous arrays obtained by the breath figure are applied as substrates for cell growth, and the effect of their nanopore size on cell growth was evaluated. Notably, it is found that cell viability is related to pore size, where 2D nanoporous structure is more beneficial for cell culture than 2D microporous structures. The change in the average pore size of the polymer films from 1.22 μm to 346 nm results in a threefold increase in cell viability.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanessa H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Fragal
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thelma Sley P
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Cellet
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elizângela H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Fragal
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Francielle P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Celso V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States; Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, United States.
authors.forename: Tewodros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asefa
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: afrubira@uem.br.
authors.forename: Adley F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Rubira
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Avenida Colombo 5790, CEP: 87020-900 Maringá, Paraná, Brazil. Electronic address: rsilva2@uem.br.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D058608:Nanopores; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010316:Particle Size; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: Breath figure method; Cell growth; Nanofabrication; Nanopore arrays; Polystyrene