Differential cellular interactions and responses to ultrathin micropatterned graphene oxide arrays with or without ordered in turn RGD peptide films

Abstract

Owing to the surface interactions at the biomaterial-cell interface inevitable for improved cellular functions, a variety of efforts has been made for the development of the physical and chemical strategies to synchronize and adjust cellular behaviors by utilizing the micro/nanopatterned structures. As one of the most recent emerging nanomaterials, graphene oxide (GO) or reduced GO has increasingly utilized as biocompatible scaffolds, antibacterial films, and biosensor platforms. Here, we report a simple fabrication method for the alternately patterned arrays of the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide and GO (RGD/GO) on a single substrate of glass via a sequential process of self-assembly. The responses of fibroblasts to the nanoscopic topographical cues and their preference were explored on the well-separated GO microstructures with or without micropatterned RGD stripes. When separately cultured on those two different arrays of GO and RGD/GO micropatterns, the cells expressed noticeable discrimination in cellular behaviors such as the adhesion, localized population and alignment, and proliferation, according to the presence and absence of alternate RGD patterns. It was also revealed that the GO surface exhibits preferable interactions with cells through the developed focal adhesion sites to the RGD surface. Conclusively, our findings suggest that alternate micropatterns of RGD peptide and graphene family nanomaterials (i.e., GO) may not only be employed for an analyzing device to precisely control the cell migration/motility but also applied in a biosensor interface for electrochemical detection and analysis of cellular responsiveness under a specific external stimulus.