Patterning of Diverse Mammalian Cell Types in Serum Free Medium with Photoablation Vipra Dhir NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Dept. of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Anupama Natarajan NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Maria Stancescu NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Anindarupa Chunder NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Neelima Bhargava NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Mainak Das NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Lei Zhai NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Peter Molnar NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826 DOI 10.1021/bp.150 Published online March 30, 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). Integration of living cells with novel microdevices requires the development of innovative technologies for manipulating cells. Chemical surface patterning has been proven as an effective method to control the attachment and growth of diverse cell populations. Patterning polyelectrolyte multilayers through the combination of layer-by-layer self-assembly technique and photolithography offer a simple, versatile, and silicon compatible approach that over- comes chemical surface patterning limitations, such as short-term stability and low-protein adsorption resistance. In this study, direct photolithographic patterning of two types of mul- tilayers, PAA (poly acrylic acid)/PAAm (poly acryl amide) and PAA/PAH (poly allyl amine hydrochloride), were developed to pattern mammalian neuronal, skeletal, and cardiac mus- cle cells. For all studied cell types, PAA/PAAm multilayers behaved as a cytophobic surface, completely preventing cell attachment. In contrast, PAA/PAH multilayers have shown a cell- selective behavior, promoting the attachment and growth of neuronal cells (embryonic rat hippocampal and NG108-15 cells) to a greater extent, while providing little attachment for neonatal rat cardiac and skeletal muscle cells (C2C12 cell line). PAA/PAAm multilayer cel- lular patterns have also shown a remarkable protein adsorption resistance. Protein adsorp- tion protocols commonly used for surface treatment in cell culture did not compromise the cell attachment inhibiting feature of the PAA/PAAm multilayer patterns. The combination of polyelectrolyte multilayer patterns with different adsorbed proteins could expand the applic- ability of this technology to cell types that require specific proteins either on the surface or Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to P. Molnar at pmolnar@mail.ucf.edu. V V C 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers 594