Microscale plasma-initiated patterning of electrospun polymer scaffolds

Representative SEM image of electrospun polyamide nanofibers; laminin-1 applied to the polyamide nanofibrillar matrix following microscale plasma-initiated patterning (μPIP). [Display omitted] ► Polymer matrix micropatterned with microscale plasma-initiated patterning (μPIP). ► μPIP promotes cell orientation at the surface of polymer scaffolds. ► Cell alignment was obtained for radial glial cultures with laminin-1 micropatterns. ► Textured surfaces can be micropatterned to provide external chemical cues. Microscale plasma-initiated patterning (μPIP) is a novel micropatterning technique used to create biomolecular micropatterns on polymer surfaces. The patterning method uses a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp to selectively protect regions of an underlying substrate from oxygen plasma treatment resulting in hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. Preferential adsorption of the biomolecules onto either the plasma-exposed (hydrophilic) or plasma-protected (hydrophobic) regions leads to the biomolecular micropatterns. In the current work, laminin-1 was applied to an electrospun polyamide nanofibrillar matrix following plasma treatment. Radial glial clones (neural precursors) selectively adhered to these patterned matrices following the contours of proteins on the surface. This work demonstrates that textured surfaces, such as nanofibrillar scaffolds, can be micropatterned to provide external chemical cues for cellular organization.