Cell culture on AAO nanoporous substrates with and without geometry constrains

We present a systematic investigation of cell culture on nanoporous surfaces with and without geometry constrains. Nanopores of anodic aluminum oxides (AAO) of different pore sizes were produced using a temperature controlled two-step anodization. NIH 3T3 cells were used to demonstrate the applicability of the produced porous surfaces. Our results showed an enhanced cell adhesion and proliferation when cells were cultured on the porous substrates of critical feature distance less than 50 nm. By bonding a thin layer of polydimethlysiloxane with through-holes on the fabricated nanoporous substrate, we were also able to culture cell with well defined geometry constrains, thereby providing a way of cell patterning on AAO substrates.