Microcontact printing of Concanavalin A and its effect on mammalian cell morphology.

In this study a major lectin called Concanavalin A (ConA) has been micropatterned on a glass substrate by microcontact printing and the patterns have been characterized with fluorescent and atomic force microscope for their uniformity. Interaction of the patterns with mammalian cells has been investigated by culturing L929 mouse fibroblast cells on the ConA printed glass surface. Cell culture results obtained from the microcontact printed patterns have also been compared and benchmarked with another patterning technique named micromolding in capillaries (MIMIC). It has been revealed that in spite of molecular level heterogeneity and agglomeration of protein molecules in microcontact printed form, they can still interact with cell surface glycoproteins, impede the mobility of membrane receptor which results in altered morphology of the fibroblast cells.