CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Surface functionalization of polymers aims to introduce novel properties thatfavor bioactive responses. We have investigated the possibility of surfacefunctionalization of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheets by the combination of laserablation with hot embossing and the application of such techniques in the field of stemcell research. We investigated the response of human induced pluripotent stem cellderived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to topography in the low micrometer range.HiPSC-CMs are expected to offer new therapeutic tools for myocardial replacement orregeneration after an infarct or other causes of cardiac tissue loss. However, hiPSC-CMsare phenotypically immature compared to myocytes in the adult myocardium,hampering their clinical application. We aimed to develop and test a high-throughputtechnique for surface structuring that would improve hiPSC-CMs structural maturation. We used laser ablation with a ps-laser source in combination with nanoimprintlithography to fabricate large areas of homogeneous micron- to submicron line-likepattern with a spatial period of 3 µm on the PET surface. We evaluated cellmorphology, alignment, sarcomeric myofibrils assembly, and calcium transients toevaluate phenotypic changes associated with culturing hiPSC-CMs on functionalizedPET. Surface functionalization through hot embossing was able to generate, at low cost,low micrometer features on the PET surface that influenced the hiPSC-CMs phenotype,suggesting improved structural and functional maturation. This technique may berelevant for high-throughput technologies that require conditioning of hiPSC-CMs andmay be useful for the production of these cells for drug screening and disease modelingapplications with lower costs.