Abstract
Contact guidance and external force field are two important factors that influence cell orientation. Microgroove-like patterns on PDMS substrates were fabricated using soft-lithography, and the effects of gravitational field direction relative to the pattern, on L929 cell orientation were investigated. The majority of cells were aligned along the grooves when gravity was parallel to the groove direction, because of contact guidance. When gravity was perpendicular to the groove direction, cell alignment decreased noticeably. Although contact guidance induced by the pattern played a dominant role in determining cell orientation, gravity also had an important influence when the field direction was perpendicular to the groove direction. No synergistic influence on cell alignment was observed when the field direction was parallel to the groove direction.
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Zhou, F., Yuan, L., Mei, Y. et al. Effects of contact guidance and gravity on L929 cell orientation. Chin. Sci. Bull. 56, 977–981 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4173-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4173-5