EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Microcontact (µC) printing of extracellular matrix proteins onto cell culture substrates allows for the creation of precisely confining geometries on which to study cells. These printed geometries have proven useful in a number of research areas, including studies of cell motility, stem cell differentiation, and co-cultures of cells with defined geometries. However, the potential of µC printed patterns has been limited in some applications by the static nature of the substrates onto which they have been printed. Although µC printing has been carried out on silicone substrates that could later be subjected to cyclic strain, a mechanical device is needed to stretch and relax the substrates during culturing and imaging of cells. A possible solution lies in cytocompatible shape memory polymers (SMPs) that can change shape on command under cell culture compatible conditions, a class of smart materials that have proliferated over the last decade. Here we combine µC printing with SMPs to create cell culture substrates with confining geometries that can undergo a dynamic change in pattern dimensions under physiological conditions without the need for a mechanical apparatus. We also demonstrate the ability of these µC printed SMPs to significantly alter cell morphology to a more polarized state. Our µC printed SMPs can be sized to fit into standard chamber slides to provide a simplified and affordable means for imaging cellular response to dynamic µC printed geometries.