Retinal pigment epithelial cell adhesion on novel micropatterned surfaces fabricated from synthetic biodegradable polymers

Novel synthetic biodegradable polymer substrates with specific chemical micropatterns were fabricated from poly( -lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and diblock copolymers of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly( -lactic acid) (PEG/PLA). Thin films of PLGA and PEG/PLA supported and inhibited, respectively, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell proliferation, with a corresponding cell density of 352 900 and 850 cells/cm2 after 7 days (from an initial seeding density of 15 000 cells/cm2). A microcontact printing technique was used to define arrays of circular (diameter of 50 μm) PLGA domains surrounded and separated by regions (width of 50 μm) of PEG/PLA. Reversed patterns composed of PEG/PLA circular domains surrounded by PLGA regions were also fabricated. Both micropatterned surfaces were shown to affect initial RPE cell attachment, limit cell spreading, and promote the characteristic cuboidal cell morphology during the 8-h period of the experiments. In contrast, RPE cells on plain PLGA (control films) were elongated and appeared fibroblast-like. The reversed patterns had continuous PLGA regions that allowed cell–cell interactions and thus higher cell adhesion. These results demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating micropatterned synthetic biodegradable polymer surfaces to control RPE cell morphology.