Effect of oblique polymer pillars on spreading and elongation of rat mesenchymal stem cells.

Stiffness anisotropy of oblique pillars for directed spreading of rat mesenchymal stem cells. • Oblique PLGA micropillars of different sizes and pitches were fabricated by hot embossing techniques. • RMSCs were cultured on the pillars showing strong anisotropic effects of spreading due to inclined individual pillars. • The experimental results were explained based on a theoretical modelling of effective stiffness of oblique pillar arrays. Stiffness and anisotropy of culture substrates are important factors influencing the cell behavior and their responses to external stimuli. Herein, we report a fabrication method of oblique polymer pillars which allow modulating both stiffness and anisotropy of the substrate for spreading and elongation studies of Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells (RMSCs). Poly (Lactic-co-Glycolic Acid) (PLGA) has been chosen to produce micro-pillars of different heights and different pitches using a combined method of soft-lithography and hot embossing. The stiffness of such pillar substrates varies over a large range so that RMSCs show effectively different spreading behaviors which are also sensitive to the inclining angle of the pillars. Our results showed that with the increase of the pillar height the area of cell spreading decreases but the cell elongation aspect ratio increases. Moreover, cells preferentially elongate along the direction perpendicular to that of the pillars' inclining, which is in agreement with the calculated anisotropy of the pillar substrate stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]