Development of Cell-Carrying Magnetic Microrobots with Bioactive Nanostructured Titanate Surface for Enhanced Cell Adhesion
Junyang Li,
Lei Fan,
Yanfang Li,
Tanyong Wei,
Cheng Wang,
Feng Li,
Hua Tian,
Dong Sun
Affiliations
Junyang Li
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China
Lei Fan
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China
Yanfang Li
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China
Tanyong Wei
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China
Cheng Wang
Department of Orthopaedics/Engineering Research Center of Bone and Joint Precision Medicine/Beijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
Feng Li
Department of Orthopaedics/Engineering Research Center of Bone and Joint Precision Medicine/Beijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
Hua Tian
Department of Orthopaedics/Engineering Research Center of Bone and Joint Precision Medicine/Beijing Key Laboratory of Spinal Disease Research, Peking University Third Hospital, 49 North Garden Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China
Dong Sun
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Hong Kong, China
Cell-carrying magnet-driven microrobots are easily affected by blood flow or body fluids during transportation in the body, and thus cells often fall off from the microrobots. To reduce the loss of loaded cells, we developed a microrobot with a bioactive nanostructured titanate surface (NTS), which enhances cell adhesion. The microrobot was fabricated using 3D laser lithography and coated with nickel for magnetic actuation. Then, the microrobot was coated with titanium for the external generation of an NTS through reactions in NaOH solution. Enhanced cell adhesion may be attributed to the changes in the surface wettability of the microrobot and in the morphology of the loaded cells. An experiment was performed on a microfluidic chip for the simulation of blood flow environment, and result revealed that the cells adhered closely to the microrobot with NTS and were not obviously affected by flow. The cell viability and protein absorption test and alkaline phosphatase activity assay indicated that NTS can provide a regulatory means for improving cell proliferation and early osteogenic differentiation. This research provided a novel microrobotic platform that can positively influence the behaviour of cells loaded on microrobots through surface nanotopography, thereby opening up a new route for microrobot cell delivery.
