Cell culture arrangement using ferromagnetic diamond-shaped thin films

Cell patterning has become a prominent technology for tissue engineering. In this research, cell patterning was demonstrated through a diamond-shaped array of magnetic thin films fabricated photolithographically. By utilizing the stray field induced by the magnetic poles at the tips of the thin films, this method can effectively attract magnetically labeled cells and control their position for growing. Magnetic nanoparticles entered the cells via endocytosis, where the amount of particles inside the cells was determined by magnetophoresis experiment. It was observed that magnetically labeled cells can be successfully attracted to the tips of the diamond-shaped magnetic thin film structures, forming a linear cell pattern. We have also found that this structure was capable of collecting and attracting more cells over time. Further proliferation of the patterned cells on the structure suggests that it can be very useful for tissue engineering and biochips.