A research team from the DGF-Centre for Functional Nanostructures (CFN), located in the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, has cultivated cells on three-dimensional materials.
The cells possess the ability to bind to special nano-sized ‘handles’ present only on scaffolds. The team led by Professor Martin Bastmeyer has utilized a direct laser writing technique that helps them create cell binding sites and monitor the cell shape.
The team had endeavored to create a clear three-dimensional cell culture substrates that could only help the cells bind to specific locations of the scaffold. The technique helps the team to identify cell shape and volume, intracellular force development or cellular differentiation connected to the external surface of the cell’s surroundings. This discovery facilitates its use in the mass production of three-dimensional fabrication conditions for cell culture to be used in regenerative medicine.
The team used a polymer scaffold comprising a protein-resistant polymer having tiny cuboid-shaped handles of a protein-binding fabric. The scaffold was created through direct laser writing. This technique was created at the CFN by Professors Martin Wegener and Dr. Georg von Freymann. It helped generate a protein-resistant structure of nano-pillars (25µm) bound to each other with thin bars at varying points on the pillar.
The second lithography step involved laying the ‘handles’ in the center of the bars. An adhesion protein solution that is applied to the proteins allows them to bind selectively to the handles. The scaffold is covered with single cells within two hours, binding only to specific sites.
Source: http://www.cfn.uni-karlsruhe.de/