Figure 2

Hydrophobic PDMS nanobrush promotes SF295 glioma cell adhesion. (a) Photomicroscope images of cultured SF295 cells on either the PDMS nanobrush monolayer or bulk PDMS. Arrows represent the round shaped cells which are indicative of weak cell attachment to the substrate (scale bar = 40 μm). (b) Measurement of viable cells on indicated surfaces using MTS assay. The graph displays the means from triplicate independent experiments; error bars represent the standard errors of the mean, SEM (n = 3). Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s test (*p < 0.05). (c) Confocal immunofluorescence images of SF295 cells plated on the PDMS nanobrush and the bulk PDMS. Fixed cells were stained with antibodies against Paxillin (green) and FAK (green) to observe the formation of focal adhesion complexes. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue) (scale bar = 20 μm). (d) Quantitative measurement of the aspect ratio of FA complexes of cells grown on the bulk PDMS (top) or the PDMS nanobrush (bottom). 20 cells were used to measure FA parameters.