Fig. 11.

Laser-assisted immobilization of chemicals within polymer matrices. (a) Biochemical channels synthesized in agarose hydrogels and characterized with a fluorescein-tagged GRGDS peptide. (Reprinted with permission from ref. 120. Copyright (2004) by The Nature Publishing Group). (b) The longitudinal fluorescence intensity profile along the central axis of the channel shows a decrease in fluorescent intensity with depth, indicating a concentration gradient of oligopeptide. (Reprinted with permission from ref. 120. Copyright (2004) by The Nature Publishing Group). (c) Primary rat dorsal root ganglia cells were plated on 3D patterned GRGDS oligopeptide-modified agarose gels. Three days after plating, DRG cells grew within GRGDS-oligopeptide-modified agarose channels only, and not in surrounding volumes. A cell cluster on top of a GRGDS channel shows cell migration into the channel and extension of a process into the oligopeptide-modified channel as viewed by confocal fluorescent microscopy, where the channel is green (due to a fluorescein-labeled oligopeptide) and the cells are red (due to the cytoskeletal F-actin rhodamine-phalloidin stain). (Reprinted with permission from ref. 120. Copyright (2004) by The Nature Publishing Group). (d, e) Laser-fabricated 3D polymer structure (d) with two chemicals incorporated into it (e). (Reprinted with permission from ref. 122. Copyright (2005) by John Wiley and Sons).