Molecular biology of cell reactions to surface topography

The contact of cells and surface topography plays a major role in the control of cell growth, differentiation, tissue morphogenesis and pattern formation. The surface topography on which cells grow may alter their cellular interactions and this in turn may affect gene expression. In this study, I identify differentially expressed genes on macrophage-like cells cultured on planar or grooved fused quartz substrata produced by microfabrication. The mRNA differential display method was applied to compare mRNAs from the cells which were cultured on different surface. The differentially expressed genes were detected by reverse transcribed mRNA into cDNA which were used as the template in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By using mRNA fingerprinting method, Northern blot confirmation and antibody staining, I found that c-kit, Mouse tctex-1 (t-complex testis expressed 1), alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase, elastin, NRF1 genes and four unknown DNAs are considerably enhanced by contact with topography. These results indicate that surface topography can regulate and stimulate some specific genes