Aim: Topographically modified substrates are increasingly used in tissue engineering to enhance biomimicry. The overarching hypothesis is that topographical cues will control cellular response at the cell-substrate interface.
Materials & methods: The influence of anisotropically ordered poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) substrates (constant groove width of ~1860 nm; constant line width of ~2220 nm; variable groove depth of ~35, 306 and 2046 nm) on in vitro and in vivo osteogenesis were assessed.
Results & discussion: We demonstrate that substrates with groove depths of approximately 306 and 2046 nm promote osteoblast alignment parallel to underlined topography in vitro. However, none of the topographies assessed promoted directional osteogenesis in vivo.
Conclusion: 2D imprinting technologies are useful tools for in vitro cell phenotype maintenance.
Keywords: anisotropic topography; cell/biomaterial interface; gene analysis; osteogenesis.