# Harnessing the power of physicochemical material property screening to direct breast epithelial and breast cancer cells

## TL;DR

This study shows how material properties like wettability and surface texture can influence the behavior of breast cells and cancer cells, offering new ways to design medical implants.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a high-throughput method to screen physicochemical properties for their effects on healthy and cancerous breast cells.

## Key findings

- Surface topography reduces proliferation rates of both healthy and cancerous breast cells.
- Wettability has the strongest influence on cell adhesion and proliferation.
- Certain material combinations enhance healthy cell growth while inhibiting cancer cell growth.

## Abstract

Understanding cell-material interactions is crucial for advancing biomedical applications, influencing cellular behavior and medical device performance. Material properties can be manipulated to direct cell responses, benefiting applications from regenerative medicine to implantable devices such as silicone breast implants. Knowledge about the interaction differences between healthy and cancer cells with implants may guide implant design to more precisely influence cell adhesion and proliferation of healthy cells while inhibiting cancer cells, tailoring outcomes to specific cellular responses. To show-case this potential, breast epithelial cells and breast cancer cells were investigated regarding their interaction with a broad range of combined physicochemical properties. This study employed a silicone-based high-throughput screening method utilizing Double Orthogonal Gradients (DOGs) to investigate the influence of topography, stiffness, and wettability on breast epithelial cells (MCF10a) and breast cancer cells (MCF7). Results show distinct cellular responses, including decreased proliferation rates in both MCF10a and MCF7 cells with the introduction of surface topography and the dominant influence of wettability on cell adhesion, proliferation, and cluster formation. The screening identified specific regions of interest (ROIs) where MCF10a cell proliferation outperformed MCF7 cells and that topography inhibits cluster formation (tumorigenesis), offering potential prospects for the creation of novel implant surfaces.

Image 1

•MCF10a and MCF7 cells be selectively triggered in their behavior by combinations of wettability, surface wrinkled topography, and stiffness•Addition of surface topography decreases MCF10a and MCF7 cell proliferation rates and inhibits MCF7 spheroid formation•Wettability outperforms topography and stiffness concerning cell adhesion and proliferation of MCF10a and MCF7 cells•From a wide range of combinations wettability, surface wrinkled topography, and stiffness, there is only a select number of combinations proliferation of MCF10a cells is enhanced and that of MCF7 cells inhibited

MCF10a and MCF7 cells be selectively triggered in their behavior by combinations of wettability, surface wrinkled topography, and stiffness

Addition of surface topography decreases MCF10a and MCF7 cell proliferation rates and inhibits MCF7 spheroid formation

Wettability outperforms topography and stiffness concerning cell adhesion and proliferation of MCF10a and MCF7 cells

From a wide range of combinations wettability, surface wrinkled topography, and stiffness, there is only a select number of combinations proliferation of MCF10a cells is enhanced and that of MCF7 cells inhibited