Spiral ganglion Schwann cells, but not fibroblasts, align with micropatterns in the absence of neurites. (A) Cell alignment was determined by measuring the angle (θ) of an ellipse fitted to the major axis of the cell relative to the pattern. (B) Histogram of orientation angle for SCs and fibroblasts on patterned or unpatterned polymers (n=354, 300 and 76 for SC on patterned polymer, SC on unpatterned polymer and fibroblasts on patterned polymer respectively). Over 75% of SCs on patterned polymer were oriented within 30 degrees to the pattern. The difference in alignment of SCs on patterned polymers vs SC’s on unpatterned polymers and fibroblasts on patterned polymers was significant (p<0.001, ANOVA with post-hoc Dunn’s Method).