We patterned gold-coated glass slides with microcontact printing to generate surfaces presenting large arrays of identically-shaped cell-adhesive islands. We used a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer stamp that was inked with an ethanolic solution of octadecanethiol, dried, and then brought into contact with the gold surface (Figure 1A). We then backfilled the unstamped area of the substrate by immersing it in an ethanolic solution of a tri(ethylene glycol)-terminated alkanethiol, rendering the surrounding areas resistant to protein adsorption, and in turn preventing non-specific cell adhesion. After incubation of the substrate in ethanol for sterilization, we coated the protein-adhesive regions with buffered laminin solution for 1 hour at 37°C in order to render those regions permissive to cell attachment and spreading. We fabricated surfaces presenting one of three different shapes – flower, line and star – for use in immunocytochemistry and live cell imaging studies (Figure 1B).
