Abstract
The geometrically selective attachment of cells on surfaces is an on-going technological challenge. Biotechnological applications of man-made cellular micropatterns range from tissue engineering and wound healing to single-cell assays and biosensors for toxic compounds. Recently, silicon microfabrication techniques and advances in surface chemistry have allowed for selectively tailoring cellular adhesiveness on a micrometer scale [1–8]. Usually, a micropattern of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of organic molecules promotes or inhibits cell adhesion on certain areas of the substrate depending on the end functional group of the SAM. Unfortunately, the specialized SAM chemistries, e.g. functionalized alkylsiloxanes on silicon oxide or alkanethiols on gold, are not easily combined with most tissue culture or implantable (“biocompatible”) materials such as polymers or heteregeneous surfaces and, most importantly, can result in undesirable biointeraction [9].
