Nanoimprint fabrication of polymer cell substrates with combined microscale and nanoscale topography

This article reports the fabrication of polymer cell culture substrates with combined microscale and nanoscale topography. The substrates were fabricated using two embossing steps, where the microscale features were formed in the first embossing step and then the nanoscale features were formed in the second. The first embossing produced grooves either 2 or 10 μm wide, while the second embossing produced grooves 50 nm wide on a 150 nm pitch. The 50 nm grooves were either parallel to or perpendicular to the microgrooves. Osteoblast-like cells were seeded onto the substrates and cell alignment was analyzed using immunofluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. There was a significant decrease in alignment of cells on substrates with nanogrooves perpendicular to microgrooves as compared to those with parallel nanogrooves. This research enables cell response to be examined to complex combinations of microscale and nanoscale topography.