Additive manufacturing of polymeric scaffolds for biomimetic cell membrane engineering

Additive manufacturing based on direct laser writing two-photon polymerization facilitates the fabrication of microstructures with full 3D design freedom. Here, this fabrication technique is exploited for engineering scaffolds accurately mimicking the shape and size of three types of human cells. The human cell models employed in the study were chosen to include a range of dimensions and different identifiable features to highlight the versatility of this fabrication approach, yet other cell shapes can easily be fabricated in similar manner. The design and fabrication parameters for the additive manufacturing process were optimized to obtain polymeric scaffolds with biomimetic shapes. After fabrication, the cell scaffolds were converted to polymer-cushioned model cell membranes through layer-by-layer functionalization with a cationic polymer and a lipid bilayer. Scaffold functionalization was verified using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Polymer-cushioned model cell membranes supported on 3D scaffolds mimicking the shape of human cells are particularly suitable for membrane interaction studies where membrane curvature plays an important role. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the engineering of biomimetic cell membranes by high-resolution additive manufacturing combined with surface functionalization. The interdisciplinary approach highlights the value of additive manufacturing as technological solution for challenges encountered in biomedical studies.