Fabrication of microengineered templates and their applications into micropatterned cell culture

We present a fabrication method of PDMS microtemplates and their applications into a localized culture of primary mammalian cells. Three types of microtemplates of microwell, microstencil and microcontact printing stamp (mCP) were fabricated, and their feasibilities into cell culture were studied. All of microtemplates were fabricated by PDMS casting from SU-8 mold prepared by photolithography. The pattern used in the test was 500 μm dots. In the culture test of microstencil, a stencil was placed on a glass disk coated with Poly-D-Lysine (PDL) layer. In the other test of microcontact printing, PDL layer was patterned by microcontact printing. The mammalian cells of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) and cortical neuron were successfully cultured into micropatterns by using the microtemplates. The results showed that cells could be cultured into micropatterns with precisely controlled manner at any shapes and specific size for bioscience study and bioengineering applications.