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Micro/nano-fabrication technologies for cell biology

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Abstract

Micro/nano-fabrication techniques, such as soft lithography and electrospinning, have been well-developed and widely applied in many research fields in the past decade. Due to the low costs and simple procedures, these techniques have become important and popular for biological studies. In this review, we focus on the studies integrating micro/nano-fabrication work to elucidate the molecular mechanism of signaling transduction in cell biology. We first describe different micro/nano-fabrication technologies, including techniques generating three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering. We then introduce the application of these technologies in manipulating the physical or chemical micro/nano-environment to regulate the cellular behavior and response, such as cell life and death, differentiation, proliferation, and cell migration. Recent advancement in integrating the micro/nano-technologies and live cell imaging are also discussed. Finally, potential schemes in cell biology involving micro/nano-fabrication technologies are proposed to provide perspectives on the future research activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Tongcheng Qian & Yingxiao Wang

  2. Department of Integrative and Molecular Physiology, Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, Institute for Genomic Biology, Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Yingxiao Wang

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People’s Republic of China

    Tongcheng Qian

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  1. Tongcheng Qian
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  2. Yingxiao Wang
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Correspondence to Yingxiao Wang.

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Qian, T., Wang, Y. Micro/nano-fabrication technologies for cell biology. Med Biol Eng Comput 48, 1023–1032 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-010-0632-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-010-0632-z

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