CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The construction of functionalized surfaces for use in nanotechnology and biotechnology has opened a new area in materials science. Advances in microfabrication and nanofabrication processes are also opening new opportunities to investigate complex questions of cell biology in a way not previously possible. In particular, the spatial regulation of cellular processes can be studied through the design of physical and chemical conditions to which the cell is exposed. Lithographic methods and selective chemical modification schemes can provide biocompatible surfaces that control cellular interactions on the micron and submicron scales on which cells are organized. Combined with fluorescence microscopy and other techniques of cell biology a widely expanded tool box is becoming available. In this work we present our progress in the development of the technique of Micro Contact Printing and results obtained on the modification of the topology of supported membranes, the mobility of membrane components, and the ability of the membrane to bind ligands of interest.