Biomaterial nanotopography-mediated cell responses: experiment and modeling

The rapid development of fabrication and processing technologies in the past two decades has enabled researchers to introduce nanoscale features into materials which, interestingly, have been shown to greatly regulate the behavior and fate of biological cells. In particular, important cell responses (such as adhesion, proliferation, differentiation, migration, and filopodial growth) have all been correlated with material nanotopography. Given its great potential, intensive efforts have been made, both experimentally and theoretically, to understand why and how cells respond to nanoscale surface features, and this article reviews recent progress in this field. Specifically, a brief overview on the fabrication and modification techniques to create nanotopography on different materials is given first. After that, a summary of important experimental findings on the mediation of nanoscale surface topography on the behavior of various cells, as well as the underlying mechanism, is provided. Finally, both classical and recently developed approaches for modeling nanotopography-mediated cell adhesion and filopodial growth are reviewed