Surface-mediated cell alignment using polymerized liquid crystal nanostructures

The microenvironment of cells affects their morphology and alignment. The physical characteristics of a cell are of extreme importance as the function and viability of a cell is closely linked to its morphology. In this work, we demonstrate the control of the orientation of cultured human dermal fibroblasts (hDFs) using polymerized liquid crystal (LC) periodic nano- and microstructures. The desired pattern is created by controlling the boundary conditions of the LC molecules which exhibit a smectic-A phase. Doping the LC with a small amount of reactive monomers allowed us to fix the molecular orientation and preserve the nano- and microstructures after photopolymerization and subsequent washing. The plated hDFs respond to the polymerized LC topography by changing their shape and aligning their long axis parallel to the patterned grooves. Though fibronectin treatment promotes proliferation of the cells, when comparing the hDFs grown on fibronectin and fibronectin-free patterned surfaces, the cells on fibronectin-free surface show improved alignment and elongation. The demonstrated LC-based surfaces will potentially find practical applications to preprogram cells to form specific kinds of tissues.