Chromosomal repositioning and gene regulation of cells on a micropillar array.

While various cell responses on material surfaces have been examined, relatively few reports are focused on significant self deformation of cell nuclei and corresponding chromosomal repositioning. Herein, we prepared a micropillar array of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and observed significant nuclear deformation of HeLa cells on the polymeric micropillars. In particular, we detected the alterations of the territory positioning of chromosomes 18 and 19 and gene expression profiles of HeLa cells on the micropillar array using fluorescence in situ hybridization and DNA microarray. Chromosome 18 was found to be translocated closer to the nuclear periphery than chromosome 19 on the micropillar array. With the repositioning of chromosomal territories, HeLa cells changed their gene expressions on the micropillar array with 180 genes up-regulated and 255 genes down-regulated for all of the 23 pairs of chromosomes under the experimental conditions and the employed Bioinformatics criteria. Hence, this work deepens understanding on cell-material interactions by revealing that material surface topography can probably influence chromosomal repositioning in the nuclei and gene expressions of cells.