Biofilm Lithography
Biofilm Lithography - Related Videos
07:53
Soft Lithography
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2023
Many BioMEM devices, such as microfluidic channels, are fabricated using the soft lithography technique. Here, a microscale pattern is replicated by curing an elastomeric polymer over the 3D structure. These polymeric structures are then used to create a wide range of devices, ranging from microfluidic channels for biosensing applications to microscale bioreactors for the visualization of micro-colonies. This video introduces photolithography and demonstrates the technique in the laboratory.
10:09
Capillary Force Lithography for Cardiac Tissue Engineering
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Cited by 27 •
2014
In this protocol, we demonstrate the fabrication of biomimetic cardiac cell culture substrata made from two distinct polymeric materials using capillary force lithography. The described methods provide a scalable, cost-effective technique to engineer the structure and function of macroscopic cardiac tissues for in vitro and in vivo applications.
08:21
Fabrication of Periodic Gold Nanocup Arrays Using Colloidal Lithography
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Cited by 1 •
2017
We demonstrate the fabrication of periodic gold nanocup arrays using colloidal lithographic techniques and discuss the importance of nanoplasmonic films.
09:03
Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Biofilms
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Cited by 79 •
2012
Mycobacterium tuberculosis forms drug tolerant biofilms when cultured in certain conditions. Here we describe methods for culturing M. tuberculosis biofilms and determining the frequency of drug tolerant persisters. These protocols will be useful for further studies into the mechanisms of drug tolerance in M. tuberculosis.
05:58
Plasma Lithography Surface Patterning for Creation of Cell Networks
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Cited by 16 •
2011
A versatile plasma lithography technique has been developed to generate stable surface patterns for guiding cellular attachment. This technique can be applied to create cell networks including those that mimic natural tissues and has been used for studying several, distinct cell types.
FAQs
Cell attachment establishes the initial spatial relationship between the microbial community and the substrate. As cells produce an extracellular polymeric matrix, the biofilm develops localized material features rather than a uniformly distributed layer. Those features can preserve information about where cells accumulated and how the matrix formed, enabling the living assembly to guide later microscale fabrication steps.
The extracellular polymeric matrix supplies material whose composition contributes to the properties of the resulting interface. Because the matrix is produced by attached cells, its distribution is linked to biological activity rather than only to externally imposed patterning. This connection allows the patterned surface to retain characteristics arising from both the microbial cells and the matrix they generate.
The same localized biofilm features can support different fabrication roles. As biological templates, they guide where subsequent structures form; as masks, they influence which surface regions remain accessible during processing; and as functional coatings, they contribute biological and matrix-derived properties directly at the interface. The selected role depends on how the patterned biofilm is incorporated into later processing.
Biofilm Lithography links a self-organized biological structure with an engineered surface outcome. Cell activity and matrix production create spatial organization, while subsequent processing converts that organization into a useful interface or pattern. This combination differs from treating microbes only as passive components because the living material helps generate the geometry and can also contribute functional properties.
A basic workflow begins by allowing cells to attach to a substrate and produce an extracellular polymeric matrix. The developing biofilm then forms localized features that serve as templates, masks, or coatings. Subsequent processing uses those features to create or guide spatial patterns on the surface. The outcome is an organized interface that can retain biologically derived properties.
Patterned biofilms can support several bioengineering applications, including patterned biomaterials, biosensors, and tissue-engineering platforms. In each case, the spatial arrangement helps organize an interface while preserving contributions from cell activity and matrix composition. The approach is also useful for studying microbial adhesion, linking observations of attachment with engineered surface architectures.
Because the method begins with cells attaching to a substrate and forming localized biofilm features, the resulting patterns can serve as spatial evidence of microbial adhesion behavior. Researchers can examine how attachment is represented across an interface while relating that organization to the extracellular matrix. This makes the approach relevant both to fabrication studies and to investigations of surface colonization.