Generation of uniform agarose microwells for cell patterning by micromolding in capillaries

Abstract

We described a simple and facile method to generate uniform agarose microwells on a polyelectrolyte (PEL) multilayer functionalized surface for efficient and reliable cell patterning. The PEL multilayers, composed of polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) and polystyrene sulfonate ammonium (PSS), provide an adhesive environment, which promotes cell proliferation in live cell-based assays. Agarose microwells, which are able to selectively isolate cells into individual compartments, are fabricated by micromolding the agarose solution in capillaries (MIMIC). Moreover, the fabricated agarose microwells are able to effectively form different shapes (e.g., circles, triangles, squares, and stars) and can isolate multiple cell types (e.g., HEK 293, NIH3T3, and HepG2). We also demonstrated how this technique can be used for the real-time monitoring of communication between primary neuronal cells in the agarose microwells.