Division of Solid State Physics, Lund University, Lund, 22100, Sweden.
NanoLund, Lund University, Lund, 22100, Sweden.
Sci China Life Sci. 2018 Apr;61(4):427-435. doi: 10.1007/s11427-017-9264-2. Epub 2018 Apr 2.
Vertical nanowire arrays are increasingly investigated for their applications in steering cell behavior. The geometry of the array is an important parameter, which influences the morphology and adhesion of cells. Here, we investigate the effects of array geometry on the morphology of MCF7 cancer cells and MCF10A normal-like epithelial cells. Different gallium phosphide nanowire array-geometries were produced by varying the nanowire density and diameter. Our results show that the cell size is smaller on nanowires compared to flat gallium phosphide. The cell area decreases with increasing the nanowire density on the substrate. We observed an effect of the nanowire diameter on MCF10A cells, with a decreased cell area on 40 nm diameter nanowires, compared to 60 and 80 nm diameter nanowires in high-density arrays. The focal adhesion morphology depends on the extent to which cells are contacting the substrate. For low nanowire densities and diameters, cells are lying on the substrate and we observed large focal adhesions at the cell edges. In contrast, for high nanowire densities and diameters, cells are lying on top of the nanowires and we observed point-like focal adhesions distributed over the whole cell. Our results constitute a step towards the ability to fine-tune cell behavior on nanowire arrays.
垂直纳米线阵列因其在引导细胞行为方面的应用而受到越来越多的关注。阵列的几何形状是一个重要的参数，它影响细胞的形态和黏附。在这里，我们研究了阵列几何形状对 MCF7 癌细胞和 MCF10A 正常上皮细胞形态的影响。通过改变纳米线密度和直径来生产不同的磷化镓纳米线阵列几何形状。我们的结果表明，与平坦的磷化镓相比，纳米线上的细胞尺寸较小。细胞面积随基底上纳米线密度的增加而减小。我们观察到纳米线直径对 MCF10A 细胞的影响，在高密度阵列中，与 60nm 和 80nm 直径的纳米线相比，40nm 直径的纳米线上细胞面积减小。焦点黏附形态取决于细胞与基底接触的程度。对于低纳米线密度和直径，细胞躺在基底上，我们观察到细胞边缘有大的焦点黏附。相比之下，对于高纳米线密度和直径，细胞位于纳米线的顶部，我们观察到点状焦点黏附分布在整个细胞上。我们的结果为在纳米线阵列上精细调整细胞行为的能力迈出了一步。
