Microchannel-connected SU-8 honeycombs by single-step projection photolithography for positioning cells on silicon oxide nanopillar arrays

Florian Larramendy 1 Marie-Charline Blatché 2 Laurent Mazenq 3 Adrian Laborde 3 Pierre Temple-Boyer 4 Oliver Paul 1
1 Department of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK
2 LAAS-I2C - Service Instrumentation Conception Caractérisation
LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes
3 LAAS-TEAM - Service Techniques et Équipements Appliqués à la Microélectronique
LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes
4 LAAS-MICA - Équipe MICrosystèmes d'Analyse
LAAS - Laboratoire d'analyse et d'architecture des systèmes
Abstract : We report on the fabrication, functionalization and testing of SU-8 microstructures for cell culture and positioning over large areas. The microstructure consists of a honeycomb arrangement of cell containers interconnected by microchannels and centered on nanopillar arrays designed for promoting cell positioning. The containers have been dimensioned to trap single cells and, with a height of 50 µm, prevent cells from escaping. The structures are fabricated using a single ultraviolet photolithography exposure with focus depth in the lower part of the SU-8 resist. With optimized process parameters, microchannels of various aspect ratios are thus produced. The cell containers and microchannels serve for the organization of axonal growth between neurons. The roughly 2-µm-high and 500-nm-wide nanopillars are made of silicon oxide structured by deep reactive ion etching. In future work, beyond their cell positioning purpose, the nanopillars could be functionalized as sensors. The proof of concept of the novel microstructure for organized cell culture is given by the successful growth of interconnected PC12 cells. Promoted by the honeycomb geometry, a dense network of interconnections between the cells has formed and the intended intimate contact of cells with the nanopillar arrays was observed by scanning electron microscopy. This proves the potential of these new devices as tools for the controlled cell growth in an interconnected container system with well-defined three-dimensional geometry.
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Journal articles
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https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01225646
Contributor : Pierre Temple-Boyer <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, November 10, 2015 - 4:09:41 PM
Last modification on : Saturday, October 26, 2019 - 1:32:33 AM
Long-term archiving on : Friday, February 12, 2016 - 5:08:24 PM

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CNRS | LAAS | LAAS-I2C | LAAS-TEAM | LAAS-MICA | LAAS-MICRO-NANO-BIO-TECHNOLOGIES | INSA-TOULOUSE | INSA-GROUPE | UNIV-TLSE3 | UT1-CAPITOLE | UNIV-TLSE2

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Florian Larramendy, Marie-Charline Blatché, Laurent Mazenq, Adrian Laborde, Pierre Temple-Boyer, et al.. Microchannel-connected SU-8 honeycombs by single-step projection photolithography for positioning cells on silicon oxide nanopillar arrays. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, IOP Publishing, 2015, 25 (4), pp.045010. ⟨10.1088/0960-1317/25/4/045010⟩. ⟨hal-01225646⟩

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