Nanotextured chitosan surfaces for studying cell behaviors

This paper describes an easy method to fabricate nanoscale features on chitosan membranes from a silicon mold through using a combination of solution casting and etching process. Three different molecular weight chitosan powders were used to evaluate the topography of nanoscale features after molding process. The Young's modulus of three different molecular weight (120, 185 and 250 kDa) are almost the same in air with a value about 6 GPa and in medium with a value about 5 MPa. The size of the nanotexture is 250 nm in width and 200 nm in depth. Human breast cancer cells MCF-7 and HIG-82 fibroblasts were cultured on patterned nanotextured chitosan surfaces and both cells can be patterned on specific regions. The results exhibited the cells preferred to adhere on flat chitosan surfaces than on nanotextured chitosan surfaces. This nanotextured chitosan surfaces could be used for controlling cell development in bio-relevant applications, such biomedical devices, biology and tissue engineering.