麻豆淫院

Griffith University researchers have shown that the shape and surface chemistry of microscopic "re-entrant" structures鈥攖iny overhanging caps arranged like mushroom tops鈥攃an tune how cancer cells stick, spread and multiply.

Using an aggressive, triple-negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231), the team demonstrated that simple design rules could guide cell behavior in the lab.

The study has been in Advanced Materials Interfaces and has also been selected for a feature on the back cover of the upcoming issue of the journal.

What are re-entrant microstructures?

Re-entrant microstructures have overhanging edges that create confined spaces and curved surfaces. The team fabricated arrays with circular, triangular and linear (microline) caps in two materials: hydrophilic silicon dioxide (SiO鈧�) and hydrophobic silicon carbide (SiC) and investigated how geometry and wettability affected the cancer cell responses.

Using a lab model, the team showed they could guide how MDA-MB-231 cancer cells鈥攁n invasive breast cancer cell鈥攕tuck, spread, and multiplied by tweaking the curves and chemistry of these tiny structures.

"Cells don't just respond to chemicals: they 'feel' their surroundings," said Dr. Navid Kashaninejad from Griffith's Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Research Institute (QUATRI) and School of Engineering and Built Environment.

"By changing curvature, spacing and surface chemistry, we can nudge how aggressive cancer cells attach and grow. That gives us more realistic tumor-like lab models for drug screening and design cues for implants and coatings that are less welcoming to cancer."

Testing protocol

Researchers cultured MDA-MB-231 cells on each surface and tracked growth over three days using a PrestoBlue metabolic assay, alongside fluorescence microscopy and SEM to visualize spreading and cytoskeletal organization.

Dr. Kashaninejad said the method mimicked the environment of real tumors more accurately in the lab, which meant it could greatly improve how new cancer drugs were tested.

"It also opens the door to better ways of identifying treatments that stop cancer cells from spreading," he said. "In the future, this approach could even be used to design medical implants or surface coatings that make it harder for cancer to grow on them.

"Our method shows cancer cell behavior can be precisely tuned by the curvature and chemistry of re-entrant microstructures."

This study extended on previous work on simple micropillar arrays by demonstrating mechanosensitive behaviors that emerged when curvature and confinement were introduced through re-entrant structures.

The re-entrant designs were also structurally stable, supporting their use in long-term biointerface applications.