Abstract
2D and 3D topographic cues made of photoresist, a polymer, are used for cell culture and cell analysis. Photoresists used for cell analysis provide the surface conditions necessary for proper cell growth, along with patterning properties of a wide range and high precision, and low auto-fluorescence that does not affect fluorescence imaging. In this study, we developed a thick negative photoresist SJI-001 possessing the aforementioned properties. We evaluated the surface conditions of SJI-001 affecting cell culture. First, we studied the wettability of SJI-001, which was changed by plasma treatment, conducted as a pretreatment on a plastic substrate before cell seeding. SJI-001 was more chemically stable than SU-8 used for fabricating the micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Furthermore, the doubling time and adhesion rate of adherent HeLa cells cultured on untreated SJI-001 were 25.2 h and 74%, respectively, thus indicating its suitability for cell culture over SU-8. In addition, we fabricated a cell culture plate with a 3D lattice structure, three micrometers in size, using SJI-001. HeLa cells seeded on this plate remained attached over five days. Therefore, SJI-001 exhibits surface conditions suitable for cell culture and has several bioapplications including microstructures and cell chips for cell culture and cell analysis.
Highlights
Photoresists are a type of polymer used for fabricating cell chips, such as BioMEMS and lab-on-a-chip, for cell culture and cell analysis due to its capability of fabricating a nanometer structure by simple fabrication processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
Surface condition affects cells which are cultured on the photoresist, so it must be ensured that the photoresist should not affect cell phenotype both physically and chemically [10]
Since the cell culture plate with the 3D lattice structure was freestanding, it was indicated that the cell culture plate was useful for fluorescence imaging, which had a high S/N ratio and high magnification
Summary
Photoresists are a type of polymer used for fabricating cell chips, such as BioMEMS and lab-on-a-chip, for cell culture and cell analysis due to its capability of fabricating a nanometer (nm) structure by simple fabrication processes [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Photoresists used for cell chips are required the patterning properties, surface conditions and low auto-fluorescence. SU-8 has exhibited patterning properties and surface conditions that are suitable for cell chips. Our research group has developed SJI-001, a low-fluorescence photoresist, by changing the benzene ring to cyclohexane and antimony to phosphorus, as compared to the original SU-8 compound. The surface conditions of SJI-001 and its effect on adherent cells had not been previously evaluated. Since adherent cells sense the environment and determine their adhesion, proliferation and necrosis, the effect of the material surface conditions on cells must be considered [23]. We evaluated the effect of the SJI-001 surface and its suitability as a scaffold for cell culture. The effect on cells cultured on SJI-001, which had not been plasma-treated, and extracellular matrix (ECM) coating was evaluated. As a cell culture demonstration, we fabricated a cell culture plate with a 3D lattice structure as a scaffold and evaluated the usefulness of SJI-001 in cell analysis
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
