Stimulation of epithelial tissue migration by certain porous topographies is independent of fluid flux

A surface with columnar pores 0.1 or 0.4 μm in diameter is shown to have a novel effect on the migration of corneal epithelial tissue sheets; migration is stimulated in a nondirectional manner with respect to migration over a planar, nonporous surface (Dalton, Evans, McFarland, and Steele, J Biomed Mater Res 1999;45:384–394; Steele, Johnson, McLean, Beumer, and Griesser, J Biomed Mater Res 2000;50:475–482). By blind‐ending the pores, we show that this increase in tissue migration is not dependent on fluid flux through the pores and so appears to occur as a result of surface topography. From transmission electron micrographs, the migrating tissue appears to form either close contacts or focal adhesions at the edge of some pore channels; we speculate that this may provide a fulcrum for the enhanced migration. Scanning electron micrographs suggest that within tissue that migrates over the surfaces that contain blind‐ended pores, the cells are more extensively spread than those in tissue migrating on a planar surface. The migration of disaggregated epithelial cells is enhanced on surfaces that contain 0.1‐ or 0.4‐μm‐diameter pores (compared with a planar surface), and this is similarly independent of fluid flux. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 56: 83–92, 2001