%0 Journal Article
%T Engineering a Biocompatible Scaffold with Either Micrometre or Nanometre Scale Surface Topography for Promoting Protein Adsorption and Cellular Response
%A Xuan Le
%A G¨Śrrard Eddy Jai Poinern
%A Nurshahidah Ali
%A Cassandra M. Berry
%A Derek Fawcett
%J International Journal of Biomaterials
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/782549
%X Surface topographical features on biomaterials, both at the submicrometre and nanometre scales, are known to influence the physicochemical interactions between biological processes involving proteins and cells. The nanometre-structured surface features tend to resemble the extracellular matrix, the natural environment in which cells live, communicate, and work together. It is believed that by engineering a well-defined nanometre scale surface topography, it should be possible to induce appropriate surface signals that can be used to manipulate cell function in a similar manner to the extracellular matrix. Therefore, there is a need to investigate, understand, and ultimately have the ability to produce tailor-made nanometre scale surface topographies with suitable surface chemistry to promote favourable biological interactions similar to those of the extracellular matrix. Recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology have produced many new nanomaterials and numerous manufacturing techniques that have the potential to significantly improve several fields such as biological sensing, cell culture technology, surgical implants, and medical devices. For these fields to progress, there is a definite need to develop a detailed understanding of the interaction between biological systems and fabricated surface structures at both the micrometre and nanometre scales. 1. Introduction The last two decades have seen a tremendous level of fundamental research and development into nanotechnology. Recent developments in material science, engineering, biotechnology, and biomedical fields have clearly demonstrated the many potential applications of nanotechnology [1, 2]. The basis of this intense nanotechnology-based research is derived from the fact that nanoscale matter can have significantly different properties than its bulk counterpart [3, 4]. The discovery and investigation of these unknown properties, using new advanced characterization techniques, have the potential to deliver detailed information that can be used to develop many new nanotechnology-based applications. These new characterization techniques have come about from the development of the atomic force microscope (AFM) and the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) in the 1980s [5]. Both these techniques have given researchers the unprecedented ability to explore and chart the properties of these newly created nanomaterials. These newly discovered nanomaterials have the potential to revolutionize many current pharmaceutical and biomedical applications; and along the way they have the potential to
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbm/2013/782549/