1. Development of material functionalization tools for cell biology applications

We work on creating platforms for the presentation of adhesive molecules and growth factors to perform quantitative analysis of their local effects on cell adhesion. We employ three different strategies: A, growth factors are embedded in polysaccharide networks and presented in clusters to cells (Migliorini E et al., Adv Biosys 2017); B, growth factors are linked to extracellular matrix proteins patterned on the surface (Hauff K et al., Frontiers Bioeng Biotech 2015); C, single growth factors are covalently immobilized on nanopatterns (Schwab E et al., Nano Lett 2015).