Fabrication of Hydrogel with Cell Adhesive Micropatterns for Mimicking the Oriented Tumor-Associated Extracellular Matrix

For
mimicking the fibrous extracellular matrix (ECM), a facile method
for patterning anticell adhesive substrate was novelly applied on
agarose hydrogel. Without using masks or templates for etching, we
applied the magnetic field-induced colloidal assembly of magnetic
nanoparticles on the flat agarose hydrogel to form cell-adhesive micropatterns.
Meanwhile, tuning the hydrogel substrate’s modulus to fit real
tissue was experimentally demonstrated. Magnetic nanobeads were also
assembled on this hydrogel surface and formed more complete and regular
patterns. The patterned hydrogel substrate could actually influence
behaviors of different cancer cells, including adhesion, growth, and
migration.