TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES AT THE MICROMETER SCALE INDUCE CHANGES IN CELL CYTOSKELETON AND GOLGI COMPLEX MORPHOLOGIES

It is now well recognized that cellular behaviour on topographically modified materials is of great importance for fields as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Surface features at the micro and nanometer scale have been shown to influence and even determine cell behaviour and cytoskeleton organization [1]. However, a poorly studied area is the response, function and distribution of sub-cellular organelles to topographically modified surfaces. Nanostructures and microstructures are present in the natural environment of the cells: cell membranes contain nanosize molecules and the ECM is formed by biomolecules configured in different geometrical arrangements (nanopores, nanofibers, nanocrystals…). Therefore, it is of particular interest to study the effect of nano and microscale topographic structures on the cell behaviour and its internal structure. Indeed, several techniques derived from the microelectronic industry have been applied to create topographically modified substrates that are used in cell culture systems. The effects of micro and nanostructures in cell orientation and adhesion and the cytoskeleton organization have been widely studied [2,3]. However, very little has been reported about the influence of different topographies in the disposition of subcellular elements. The fact that on one hand, the cell adhesion and morphology depend o