Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 30: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 30.26: Poster

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3

Flexible three-dimensional scaffolds for cell adhesion studies — •Thomas Striebel^1,2, Franziska Klein¹, Denis Danilov¹, Thomas Boehlke¹, Martin Wegener¹, Martin Bastmeyer¹, and Ulrich S. Schwarz² — ¹Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) — ²ITP, University of Heidelberg

Tools from materials science such as microcontact printing of adhesive patterns or preparation of flexible polymer substrates are widely used for cell culture experiments. However, most of these studies are restricted to flat substrates, although many cellular functions in a tissue context are known to be closely related to the three-dimensionality of the natural environment. We have recently shown that direct laser writing is a versatile technique to fabricate tailored 3D-scaffolds that are sufficiently elastic such that they can be deformed by muscle cells [1]. Here we demonstrate that also softer scaffolds can be produced that are deformed by weaker tissue cells such as fibroblasts. In order to evaluate scaffold deformation in a comprehensive manner, we apply finite element modeling both to the synthetic scaffolds and for implementing a novel biophysical model for cell contractility.

[1] F. Klein, T. Striebel, J. Fischer et al., Adv. Mater. 2010, 22(8), 868-71.