A micropatterned carbohydrate display for tissue engineering by self-assembly of heparin

A novel strategy to construct a fibroblast scaffold on substrates has been demonstrated via top-down photolithography and the subsequent bottom-up processes of molecular self-assembly and molecular recognition. 3-Aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) self-assembled monolayer was micropatterned by photolithography. An anionic polysaccharide heparin was adsorbed selectively on the cationic APS region of the micropatterned substrate. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was selectively bound to the displayed heparin region and then micropatterned cultivation of fibroblast cells was successful on the bFGF–heparin–APS substrate.