Patterned and switchable surfaces for biomaterial applications

CHAPTER 4.ADVANCED SUBSTRATE FABRICATION FORCELL MICROARRAYS4The content of this chapter is based upon references [214, 215].4.4.1. IntroductionThe elucidation of complex biological relationships, such as genomic function,cellular development, molecular biological pathways as well as many otherapplications such as drug discovery require the analysis of biological data in a highthroughput,cost-effective manner in order to account for the large diversity, scopeand multiplexicity demanded by current research. Microarrays have become standardtools for the highly parallel analysis of biological processes [97, 99, 125, 127, 216],requiring only minute amounts of probe molecules of interest, typically DNA,proteins or small biomolecules, to be deposited onto addressable locations on asurface conducive to biomolecular adsorption or covalent attachment [1, 15, 139].Arrays of living cells are a relatively new addition to microarray technology andhave shown promise in advancing the understanding of cellular processes and cellbehaviour in terms of gene function, cell-cell signalling and cellular response tochanges in environmental conditions [45].Typically, cell arrays have been implemented by either of two approaches:printing arrays of cells onto a substrate [95, 217] or allowing cells to attach to anarray-patterned substrate [45]. This second approach has been applied in theformation of polymer microarrays for the screening of cell-material interactions [143,218], which enables the identification and development of new materials for specificbiomedical applications. However, the arrayed polymers were not covalently linked4-129