Comparative bioaffinity studies for in-vitro cell assays on MEMS-based devices

Abstract

Nowadays, bioaffinity studies of materials are playing a key role in the realization of microdevices for a wide number of biological applications in cell-based assays such as drug screening, cell tracking and transfection. The aim of this research is to evaluate the bioaffinity of different substrates often employed in microfabrication techniques, in order to check the optimal materials aimed at enhancing cell growth or improving cell confinement. Bioaffinity has been tested in the presence of nanostructured TiO2 films produced by Pulsed Microplasma Cluster Source (PMCS). To explore the difference in affinity among these materials, SKOV-3 cells have been cultivated over them by performing studies in terms of morphological appearance and cell density. Both of these aspects have been assessed with fluorescence microscopy and also the surface chemistry has been investigated by means of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.