Observation of fibroblast motility on a micro-grooved hydrophobic elastomer substrate with different geometric characteristics

We used a hydrophobic micro-textured poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in the presence of serum protein at 37 °C to study the motility of mouse stromal fibroblast on variant (15–100 μm) parallel ridge/groove with 30 μm depth. In this paper, we observed the temporal changes in cell morphology and locomotion by using time-lapse phase-contrast microscopy. When fibroblasts seeded onto the micro-grooved substrate, almost all of cells concentrated at the bottom of the grooves. Sequentially, the fibroblasts attached and spread on the surface, migrated toward the walls of the grooves, climbed up and down the ridges frequently, apparently, the 30 μm depth of groove did not hinder movement across the micro-grooves. Eventually, they stopped proliferating as a result of contact inhibition and formed a confluent monolayer on the ridges almost exclusively, with an orientation parallel to the direction of the ridge/groove. Cellular shape of fibroblast was enhanced with the micro-grooves, the form index of nucleus was 2.6-fold greater than that of cells on smooth surfaces. Further, we found that hydrophobic surfaces are more prone to direct cellular motility in comparison with hydrophilic surfaces.