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Regulating MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell adhesion on laser-patterned surfaces with micro- and nanotopography

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer observed in women. Communication with the tumor microenvironment allows invading breast cancer cells, such as triple negative breast cancer cells, to adapt to specific substrates. The substrate topography modulates the cellular behavior, among other factors. A number of different materials and micro/nanofabrication techniques have been employed to develop substrates for cell culturing. Silicon-based substrates present a lot of advantages as they are amenable to a wide range of processing techniques and they permit rigorous control over the surface structure. We investigate and compare the response of triple negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) on laser-patterned silicon substrates with two different topographical scales, i.e., the micro- and the nanoscale, in the absence of any other biochemical modification. We develop silicon surfaces with distinct morphological characteristics by employing two laser systems with different pulse durations (nanosecond and femtosecond) and different processing environments (vacuum, SF6 gas, and water). Our findings demonstrate that surfaces with micro-topography are repellent, while surfaces with nano-topography are attractive for MDA-MB-231 cell adherence.