Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
11.4.3 Cell Biology
μCP. was. quickly. used. to. study. cell. biology. questions. after. its. invention. due. to. its. abil-
ity. to. pattern. surfaces. at. a. length. scale. comparable. to. the. size. of. individual. cells.. Chen.
et.al..(1997).prepared.micrometer-sized.cell-adhesive.islands.against.a.cell-resistant.back-
ground.by.μCP.and.grew.human.and.bovine.capillary.endothelial.cells.on.the.micropat-
terns..They.demonstrated.precise.control.of.shape.and.size.of.the.cells,.and.discovered.that.
cell.size.and.shape.dictated.the.viability.and.spreading.of.the.cells..Similarly,.Brock.et.al..
(2003). cultured. ibroblast. cells. on. ibronectin-coated. islands. with. different. shapes. pre-
pared.by.μCP..They.revealed.that.the.cells.were.able.to.sense.the.edges.and.corners.of.the.
patterns.and.deposit.extracellular.matrix.(ECM).and.extend.new.motile.processes.accord-
ing.to.the.geometric.cues..Moreover,.Williams.et.al..printed.comb.oligo-ethylene.glycol.for.
patterning.vascular.smooth.muscle.cells..They.found.that.the.micropatterns.could.control.
smooth.muscle.myosin.heavy.chain.expression.and.limit.the.response.to.a.transforming.
growth.factor.(Williams.et.al..2011)..In.addition,.Théry.et.al..(2005,.2006).created.islands.of.
cell-adhesive.ECM.proteins.against.a.cell-resistant.PEG-covered.background.by.μCP..They.
found.that.the.micropatterns.guided.not.only.compartmentalization.of.cells.and.orienta-
tion.of.cell.polarity.but.also.orientation.of.the.division.axis.of.a.dividing.cell.
11.4.4 Microarrays
Microarrays.have.been.widely.used.for.biomedical.research.and.clinical.diagnostics.due.
to.their.capacity.for.performing.large-scale,.parallel.characterization..Production.of.such.
a.microarray.requires.highly.specialized,.expensive.equipments.that.are.not.affordable.
by.many.labs.(Miller.and.Tang.2009)..Due.to.the.low-cost.nature.of.μCP,.there.has.been.
tremendous. interest. in. using. μCP. for. manufacturing. microarrays.. Notably,. Thibault.
et.al..(2005).printed.DNA.for.detecting.genetic.mutations.in.yeasts..Calabretta.et.al..(2011).
demonstrated. fabrication. of. microarray. of. PNAs. for. detecting. single. nucleotide. poly-
morphism..A.μCP.method.was.also.developed.to.replicate.prefabricated.DNA.microar-
rays.at.low.cost.(Lin.et.al..2005)..In.addition.to.nucleic.acid.microarrays,.μCP.has.been.
used. to. create. antibody. microarrays. (Wigenius. et. al.. 2008),. carbohydrate. microarrays.
(Wendeln. et. al.. 2010),. glycopolymer. microarrays. (Godula. et. al.. 2009),. and. luorophore.
microarrays.for.ion.sensing.(Basabe-Desmonts.et.al..2004)..The.ability.of.μCP.to.pattern.
cells.also.promises.to.develop.cell-based.microarrays.for.high-throughput.screening.of.
drugs.and.toxins.
11.4.5 Microparticles
Microparticles.are.widely.used.as.carriers.for.drugs.and.imaging.contrast.agents..Particles.
produced. by. conventional. bottom-up. methods. generally. suffer. from. poorly. controlled.
sizes,.shapes,.and.structures..Guan.et.al..(2006).applied.μCP.for.producing.microparticles.
for.drug.delivery.applications..They.demonstrated.fabrication.of.microparticles.with.well-
deined.sizes.and.shapes.using.PLGA,.which.is.a.biodegradable.polymer.used.clinically.
for.drug.delivery..Recently,.Zhang.and.Guan.(2011).integrated.μCP.and.the.layer-by-layer.
assembly. technique. to. produce. microparticles. of. polyelectrolytes.. They. generated. mic-
roparticles.with.arbitrary.2D.shapes.and.various.structures..This.approach,.in.principle,.
allows. production. of. particles. containing. a. wide. variety. of. functional. materials. such.
as. DNA. for. gene. therapy,. polyelectrolytes. for. condensing. DNA. and. enhancing. cellular.
uptake,.proteins.for.tissue.targeting,.quantum.dots.and.magnetic.particles.for.imaging,.
and.polymer.coatings.for.increasing.circulation.time.in.blood.
