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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 7.
Published in final edited form as: Lab Chip. 2014 Mar 14;14(13):2191–2201. doi: 10.1039/c4lc00122b

Figure 1.

Figure 1

(A) Schematic of a biological cell encapsulated within a three-dimensional fibrous matrix. Cells morphology is dictated by the arrangement of surrounding topologically complex adhesive fibers. (B) Fabrication process to generate topologically complex adhesive sites to control cell shape in three dimensions. (1, 2) Micropatterned PDMS substrates are plasma oxidized to generate a thin, brittle silica-like layer, and surface modified to prevent cell adhesion. (3) The mismatch in toughness and modulus between the bulk PDMS and the silica-like oxidized layer drives the formation of a stable array of cracks in the surface when the system is placed under applied tension. Adhesive proteins selectively adsorb to these crack structures, forming precisely defined topologically complex adhesive ‘fibers’ for (4) cell attachment and control of morphology.