Astrocyte response to nanoscale topography on anodized alumina surfaces

The Astrocytes are one of the most important and abundant resident glial cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They play a critical role in the foreign body response, by participating in the formation of the glial scar sunouncling implants. As part of the effort to minimize the foreign body response, biomaterials strategies einployiug engineered surfaces topographies are being explored. In this context, we have investigated the response of astrocytes to surface topography of alumiua, a material used in CNS applications. Specifically, astrocytes were seeded oil alumina surfaces with nanopores 20 nm and 100 nm in diameter, respectively. Pore-free alumina surfaces were also used as control surfaces. One day (24 h) after seeding, a calcein propidiuin iodide live/dead stain was used to examine the adhesion and viability of the seeded astrocytes. The results indicate that the astrocytes attach readily and exhibit greater viability on the 20 nm porous surface as compared to the control and surfaces with larger (100 nm) pore size. Further tests are being earned out to characterize the effect of the surfaces on the reactivity and metabolism of astrocytes through GFAP, proliferation and ATP release studies.