SUMMARY
Cells respond to external mechanical and chemical cues either within an in vivo environment via interactions with extracellular matrix (ECM) or with a biomaterial surface via mechanical and chemical features at the cell-biomaterial interface. As many cellular components possess length scales ranging from 1 nm -100 µm, controlling biomaterial surface features on similar length scales could provide a path to eliciting specific cellular responses and studying the interactions of living cells and biomaterials. The proposed research objective is to investigate the response of cells to micro- and nanoscale topographical and chemical patterns of a biomaterial-cell interface. The first aim seeks to combine both topographical and chemical patterning methods in order to create independent topographical and chemical features on cell culture substrates. The second aim explores the higher-order cellular response of differentiation to topographical and chemical features. The third aim characterizes cell sensing of submicro- and nano-scale topography through exploration of various topographical feature sizes as well as several potential cell-sensing mechanisms.