Extracellular nanotopographic features can provide important cues to cells that influence behaviors such as migration, activation, and differentiation. For instance, parallel ridges with dimensions similar to those of collagen fibers in the extracellular matrix are known to be able to bias the migration of cells bidirectionally. The mechanisms through which cell interact with external nanotopgraphy are not well understood, however. We have discovered that nanotopography can have a strong influence on cytoskeletal dynamics. On flat surfaces, actin polymerization occurs in disordered waves that are nucleated at randim positions within the cell. However, we have discovered that nanotopography can lead not only to the selective nucleation of actin polymerization, but also to the guidance of the subsequent polymerization waves. This phenomenon, which we have dubbed "esotaxis" (with eso- being Greek for "inner"), appears to be a universal feature of eukaryotic cells, although its details differ from cell type to cell type. We will discuss examples of how esotaxis allos us to cellular behavior. For instance, introducing a bias in the direction of actin polymerization leads to a corresponding bias in the direction of migration. We have designed surfaces that harness this phenomenon to drive not only bidirectional cell migration, but also unidirectional cell migration.

Nanotopographic control of cytoskeletal dynamics

255th National Meeting (2018)

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