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Magnetically actuated microstructured surfaces can actively modify cell migration behaviour

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Abstract

We present a study on the application of magnetically actuated polymer micropillar surfaces in modifying the migration behaviour of cells. We show that micropillar surfaces actuated at a frequency of 1 Hz can cause more than a 5-fold decrease in cell migration rates compared to controls, whereas non-actuated micropillar surfaces cause no statistically significant alterations in cell migration rates. The effectiveness of the micropillar arrays in impeding cell migration depends on micropillar density and placement patterns, as well as the direction of micropillar actuation with respect to the direction of cell migration. Since the magnetic micropillar surfaces presented can be actuated remotely with small external magnetic fields, their integration with implants could provide new possibilities for in-vivo tissue engineering applications.

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Acknowledgment

This project was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants to M. Chiao and C.J. Lim. Fabrication was partly funded by CMC Microsystems. F. Khademolhosseini was funded by the NSERC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and fellowships from the Izaak Walton Killam Foundation and The University of British Columbia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    F. Khademolhosseini, C.-C. Liu, C. J. Lim & M. Chiao

  2. Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada

    C.-C. Liu & C. J. Lim

Authors
  1. F. Khademolhosseini
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  2. C.-C. Liu
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  3. C. J. Lim
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  4. M. Chiao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Khademolhosseini.

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Khademolhosseini, F., Liu, CC., Lim, C.J. et al. Magnetically actuated microstructured surfaces can actively modify cell migration behaviour. Biomed Microdevices 18, 13 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-016-0033-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-016-0033-7

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