In this thesis the effect of mechanical stimuli on A549 lung cancer cells is studied. Modifications of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces are employed to alter the mechanical stimuli applied to the cells. Flat substrates are first studied and then micropillared substrates are designed, fabricated, and tested as a method to alter the mechanical properties of the PDMS surfaces.
Molds with micro-pillars are designed then fabricated from silicon using deep reactive ion etching. From these molds, a negative then a positive replicate is made using PDMS. The pillared PDMS substrates are fabricated in 10 geometries and used for experiments. A549 cells are cultured on these surfaces then analyzed using fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Fluorescence microscopy images processed by ImageJ software measure the cell spreading area (m2) while AFM quantifies the cell stiffness (kPa).
For flat substrates, the cell stiffness and spreading area increase with increasing substrate stiffness. Further, results on pillared substrates show a similar trend based on pillar geometry changes. For pillared substrates, the A549 cell stiffness and spreading area increase as the height decreases, yet there is decreased cell stiffness and spreading area as the diameter and spacing decreases. The experiments show that changes in surface properties and only mechanical stimuli alter cellular morphology and biomechanics
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-5184 |
| Date | 01 May 2015 |
| Creators | Ward, Sherissa A. |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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