Regulation of cell morphology and viability using anodic aluminum oxide with custom-tailored structural parameters

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with independently controlled period, porosity, and height is used as the model surface to study the single structural parameter effect on breast cancer cell behaviors, including cell polarity and cell viability. It is found that the quantity of multipolar cells and cell viability increases as the nanodent period increases from 100 to 300 nm, while the number of bipolar cells has almost no change until there is a dramatic decrease as the period increases to 300 nm. After anodizing nanodents into nanopores, the numbers of both bipolar cells and the cell viability increase significantly with the porosity increase. However, as the porosity further increases and the nanopore changes into a nanocone pillar, most of the cells become nonpolar spheres and the cell viability decreases. Increasing the height of the nanocone pillar has little effect on the cell polarity; the cell viability increases slightly with the increase of the nanocone pillar height. These results reveal the influence of individual nanostructure parameters on the cell behavior, especially the cell polarity and the cell viability, which can help to design the surface to make the cell grow as desired.