Coding Cell Micropatterns Through Peptide Inkjet Printing for Arbitrary Biomineralized Architectures

Well-designed micropatterns present in native tissues and organs involve changes in extracellular matrix compositions, cell types and mechanical properties to reflect complex biological functions. However, the design and fabrication of these micropatterns in vitro to meet task-specific biomedical applications remains a challenge. A de novo design strategy to code and synthesize functional micropatterns is presented to engineer cell alignment through the integration of aqueous-peptide inkjet printing and site-specific biomineralization. The inkjet printing provides direct writing of macroscopic biosilica selective peptide-R5 patterns with micrometer-scale resolution on the surface of a biopolymer (silk) hydrogel. This is combined with in situ biomineralization of the R5 peptide for site-specific growth of silica nanoparticles on the micropatterns, avoiding the use of harsh chemicals or complex processing. The functional micropatterned systems are used to align human mesenchymal stem cells and bovine serum albumin. This combination of peptide printing and site-specific biomineralization provides a new route for developing cost-effective micropatterns, with implications for broader materials designs.