Polydopamine and collagen coated micro-grated polydimethylsiloxane for human mesenchymal stem cell culture

Dhavan Sharma, Michigan Technological University
Wenkai Jia, Michigan Technological University
Fei Long, Michigan Technological University
Shweta Pati, Michigan Technological University
Qing-Hui Chen, Michigan Technological University
Bruce P. Lee, Michigan Technological University
Chang Kyoung Choi, Michigan Technological University
Feng Zhao, Michigan Technological University
et. al.

Abstract

Natural tissues contain highly organized cellular architecture. One of the major challenges in tissue engineering is to develop engineered tissue constructs that promote cellular growth in physiological directionality. To address this issue, micro-patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates have been widely used in cell sheet engineering due to their low microfabrication cost, higher stability, excellent biocompatibility, and most importantly, ability to guide cellular growth and patterning. However, the current methods for PDMS surface modification either require a complicated procedure or generate a non-uniform surface coating, leading to the production of poor-quality cell layers. A simple and efficient surface coating method is critically needed to improve the uniformity and quality of the generated cell layers. Herein, a fast, simple and inexpensive surface coating method was analyzed for its ability to uniformly coat polydopamine (PD) with or without collagen on micro-grated PDMS substrates without altering essential surface topographical features. Topographical feature, stiffness and cytotoxicity of these PD and/or collagen based surface coatings were further analyzed. Results showed that the PD-based coating method facilitated aligned and uniform cell growth, therefore holds great promise for cell sheet engineering as well as completely biological tissue biomanufacturing.