Using microdispensing to manufacture a customized cell dish for microbeam irradiation of single, living cells

In this paper is described the preparation of patterned cell dishes to be used in studies of low dose irradiation effects on living cells. Using a droplet microdispenser, an 8 μm thick polypropylene cell substrate, to which cells do not naturally adhere, was coated in a matrix pattern with the cell adhesive mussel protein Cell-Tak. Cells were shown to adhere and grow on the protein-coated spots, but not on the uncoated parts, providing for guided cell growth. Cultivation of isolated cell colonies provides an opportunity to study how low doses of ionizing radiation affect neighbouring un-irradiated cell colonies.