The ability to replicate the microenvironment of biological tissues creates unique biomedical possibilities for stem cell applications. Current fabrication methods are limited by either the control on feature size and shape, or by the throughput and size of the replicas. Here, a novel platform is reported that combines thermal scanning probe lithography (tSPL) with innovative methodologies for the low-cost and high-throughput nanofabrication of large area quasi-3D bone tissue replicas with high fidelity, sub-15 nm lateral precision, and sub-2 nm vertical resolution [1]. This bio-tSPL platform features a biocompatible polymer resist that withstands multiple cell culture cycles, allowing the reuse of the replicas, further decreasing costs and fabrication times. The as-fabricated replicas support the culture and proliferation of human induced mesenchymal stem cells, which display broad therapeutic and biomedical potential. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that bio-tSPL can be used to nanopattern the bone tissue replicas with amine groups, for subsequent tissue-mimetic biofunctionalization. The achieved level of time and cost-effectiveness, as well as the cell compatibility of the replicas, make bio-tSPL a promising platform for the production of tissue-mimetic replicas to study stem cell-tissue microenvironment interactions, test drugs, and ultimately harness the regenerative capacity of stem cells and tissues for biomedical applications.
[1] “Cost and Time Effective Lithography of Reusable Millimeter Size Bone Tissue Replicas With Sub-15 nm Feature Size on A Biocompatible Polymer” Advanced Functional Materials, (2021) https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202008662
Biography
Professor Elisa Riedo received her Ph.D. in Physics in a joint program between the University of Milano and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France. In 2003 she was hired as Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Physics, where she was promoted to full Professor in 2015. Since 2018, she is a Professor at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in the department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where she is also Chief Inclusivity Officer. Her research is focused on new scanning probe microscopy- based methods to study and fabricate materials and solid/liquid interfaces at the nanoscale. Highlights from her research are the invention of thermochemical nanolithography, the discovery of the exotic viscoelasticity of nano-confined water, and the first observation of the exceptional mechanical properties of diamene, pressure induced single layer diamond. In 2013, Dr. Riedo was elected APS Fellow, in the Division of Condensed Matter Physics.
