Mass-producible Nano-featured Polystyrene Surfaces for Regulating the Differentiation of Human Adipose-derived Stem Cells

In this study, we report an efficient and cost-effective method of fabricating polystyrene (PS) nano-featured substrates containing nanopore (NPo) and nanopillar (NPi) arrays based on hot embossing using nickel nano-stamps. We investigate the behavior of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs), including adhesion, morphology, proliferation and differentiation, on the replicated PS surfaces. Compared to a flat substrate, NPo- and NPi-featured substrates do not alter the morphology of stem cells. However, both NPo- and NPi-featured substrates induce different integrin expression and lower formation of focal adhesion complexes. In addition, ASCs on the NPo-featured substrate exhibit greater adipogenic differentiation, while the NPi-featured substrate induces higher osteogenic differentiation. Artificial nano-featured substrates can be applied for controlling cell behavior. Polystyrene nano-featured substrates with nanopore (NPo) and nanopillar (NPi) arrays are replicated by a polymer molding technique and the behaviors of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are investigated on them. By comparison with a flat substrate, the effect of NPo- and NPi-featured substrates on the attachment, morphology, integrin expression and differentiation of ASCs is shown.