VUV treatment combined with mechanical strain of stretchable polymer foils resulting in cell alignment

Cell-alignment along a defined direction can have a direct effect on the cell functionality and differentiation. Oriented micro- or nanotopographic structures on cell culture substrates can induce cell-alignment. Surface chemistry, wettability, and stiffness of the substrate are also important material features as they strongly influence the cell-substrate interactions. For improved bio-compatibility, highly elastic polyurethane (PU) foils were exposed to the vacuum-UV (VUV) light of a Xe2* excimer lamp at 172 nm in a nitrogen containing atmosphere (N2 or NH3). The irradiation resulted in a change in the chemical surface composition. Additionally, the formation of regular parallel microgrooves was observed on the irradiated surfaces after strong uni-axial deformation (i.e., more than about 50% strain) of the photo-modified PU foils. Cell seeding experiments demonstrated that the VUV modified polymer foils strongly enhance cell adhesion and proliferation. Cells seeded onto microgrooves aligned their shapes and elongated in the direction of the grooves. A similar effect was observed for cells seeded on photo-modified PU foils subjected to cyclic mechanical stretching at lower strain levels (i.e., typically 10% strain) without groove-formation. The cells had also here an elongated shape, however they not always align in a defined direction relative to the stretching.