FUNCTIONAL COATING OF HETEROGENEOUS MICROSTRUCTURE SURFACES WITH SELF INTERACTING BIOMOLECULES

This paper presents useful techniques for applying coatings of the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins fibronectin (FN) and basement membrane extract (BME) to small, defined polymeric microstructures. We found that several cell types, such as fibroblastic and epithelial, have preferential adherence to these ECM component coatings, but that the coatings were ineffective when applied using standard coating protocols. Thus we developed strategies to effectively apply FN and BME, overcoming inherent difficulties with their use in applications such as the micropallet array technology. These results would be of consequence for numerous bioMEMS devices that involve cell interaction with similar microstructured polymer surfaces.