Quantitative developmental biology in vitro using micropatterning.

Guillaume Blin

doi:10.1242/dev.186387

Abstract

ABSTRACTMicropatterning encompasses a set of methods aimed at precisely controlling the spatial distribution of molecules onto the surface of materials. Biologists have borrowed the idea and adapted these methods, originally developed for electronics, to impose physical constraints on biological systems with the aim of addressing fundamental questions across biological scales from molecules to multicellular systems. Here, I approach this topic from a developmental biologist's perspective focusing specifically on how and why micropatterning has gained in popularity within the developmental biology community in recent years. Overall, this Primer provides a concise overview of how micropatterns are used to study developmental processes and emphasises how micropatterns are a useful addition to the developmental biologist’s toolbox.

Highlights

Technology development is motivated by the need to overcome specific problems
The method was streamlined in the 1950s, when it emerged as a standard method for the microfabrication of various components for the microelectronics industry (Folch, 2012)
Polymer moulding is termed ‘soft lithography’ and forms the initial step of several additive micropatterning methods pioneered by Georges Whiteside and his group in the 1990s (Singhvi et al, 1994)

Summary

Introduction

Technology development is motivated by the need to overcome specific problems. In vivo, the native environment of the cells is complex. As fabrication methods have evolved, micropatterns have emerged in the cell biology literature as a precise tool to both mimic and decouple specific properties of the complex and dynamic cellular microenvironment (Box 2) (Laurent et al, 2017; Ruprecht et al, 2017; Théry, 2010) In this Primer, I focus on how micropatterns are used to model early mammalian embryogenesis, not as a replacement for in vivo analysis but as a complementary approach that can help to reveal how physicochemical context regulates developmental processes across multiple levels of biological organisation. A powerful alternative is to use an image filter or a digital micromirror device (DMD) docked to a widefield microscope to project a high resolution image (Bélisle et al, 2009; Strale et al, 2016; Waldbaur et al, 2012) This technique, termed ‘light-induced molecular adsorption patterning’ (LIMAP), is made possible thanks to water-soluble and biocompatible photoinitiators that lower the light intensity required to locally degrade the cell-repellent molecules. LIMAP makes it possible to generate new adhesive regions while live cells are already attached

C Micropatterns

F Tissue geometry

F Direct microstructuration

C Organogenesis In vitro

E Top view