title: Expanding Nanopatterned Substrates Using Stitch Technique for Nanotopographical Modulation of Cell Behavior.
abstract: Substrate nanotopography has been shown to be a potent modulator of cell phenotype and function. To dissect nanotopography modulation of cell behavior, a large area of nanopatterned substrate is desirable so that enough cells can be cultured on the nanotopography for subsequent biochemical and molecular biology analyses. However, current nanofabrication techniques have limitations to generate highly defined nanopatterns over a large area. Herein, we present a method to expand nanopatterned substrates from a small, highly defined nanopattern to a large area using stitch technique. The method combines multiple techniques, involving soft lithography to replicate poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) molds from a well-defined mold, stitch technique to assemble multiple PDMS molds to a single large mold, and nanoimprinting to generate a master mold on polystyrene (PS) substrates. With the PS master mold, we produce PDMS working substrates and demonstrate nanotopographical modulation of cell spreading. This method provides a simple, affordable yet versatile avenue to generate well-defined nanopatterns over large areas, and is potentially extended to create micro-/nanoscale devices with hybrid components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University.
authors.forename: Kam W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University; yong.yang@mail.wvu.edu.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D036103:Nanotechnology; D011137:Polystyrenes
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes