Microfrabricated in-vitro cell culture systems for investigating cellular interactions: fabricating a model system for cardiac myocytes

The use of microfabricated and micromachined substrates can aid in the creation of design two- and three-dimensional microstructures, scaffolds, and platforms for cell culture and tissue engineering. These platforms may offer several advantages for in vitro cell culture by providing (1) well controlled microarchitectures, (2) spatial localization of different cell populations, and (3) biochemically modified substrates to promote selective protein and/or cell attachment. The development of methodologies to create microfabricated tissue engineering constructs using traditional natural and polymeric biomaterials may allow us to engineer highly controlled interfaces in order to better understand and modulate cell behavior and have the capability to provide: more physiologically relevant models of cell and tissues in vitro. This paper describes the use of microfabricated cell culture platforms to study cardiac myocytes.