Surface Topography Enhances Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Towards Osteogenic and Adipogenic Lineages

Surface topography impacts on cell growth and differentiation, but it is not trivial to generate homogeneous surface structures and to define the specific morphological parameters of relevance. In this study, we have compared gene expression profiles of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on nanostructured groove/ridge surfaces. Patterns were generated in polyimide using multi beam laser interference. These structures affected cell size and orientation of human MSCs. Furthermore, the nano-patterns with a periodicity of 650 nm increased differentiation towards osteogenic and adipogenic lineages. However, in absence of differentiation media the surface structures did neither induce differentiation, nor lineage-specific gene expression changes – as assessed by genome wide gene expression profiles with Affymetrix microarray technology. Our results demonstrate that grooves and ridges at a periodicity of 650 nm enhance the propensity of MSCs to differentiate towards adipogenic and/or osteogenic lineages – but they do not directly govern lineage-specific gene expression changes.