Arraying Cell Cultures Using PEG‐DMA Micromolding in Standard Culture Dishes

Abstract

A robust and effortless procedure is presented, which allows for the microstructuring of standard cell culture dishes. Cell adhesion and proliferation are controlled by three-dimensional poly(ethylene glycol)-dimethacrylate (PEG-DMA) microstructures. The spacing between microwells can be extended to millimeter size in order to enable the combination with robotic workstations. Cell arrays of microcolonies can be studied under boundary-free growth conditions by lift-off of the PEG-DMA layer in which the growth rate is accessible via the evolution of patch areas. Alternatively, PEG-DMA stencils can be used as templates for plasma-induced patterning.