Engineering 3D cell-culture matrices: multiphoton processing technologies for biological and tissue engineering applications

Cells respond to topographical, mechanical and biochemical characteristics of the surrounding environment. Capability to reconstruct these factors individually, and also acting in accord, would facilitate systematic investigations of a multitude of related biological and tissue engineering questions. The subject of the present review is a group of technologies allowing realization of customized cell-culture matrices. These methods utilize photochemistry induced by multiphoton absorption and are carried out using essentially identical equipment. Fabrication of 2D microstructured substrates, complex 3D scaffolds, containing actively induced topographies, and immobilization of biomolecules in a spatially defined manner was demonstrated with these techniques. The reviewed reports indicate that multiphoton processing is a promising technology platform for the development of standard biomimetic microenvironments for 3D cell culture.