Figure 1

Microcontact printing guides neuronal morphogenesis (A) Shown on top is the silicon wafer with dimensions that are compatible with neuronal cell somata i.e., 10 μm wide lines separated by a pitch of 60 μm. Bottom half of panel shows an example of FITC-conjugated PLL lines printed onto coverglass. In all other cases unconjugated PLL was used. (B) Primary hippocampal neurons plated on micropatterned PLL and immunostained for neuron-specific beta-III tubulin. (C) Primary cortical neurons plated on micropatterned PLL and stained for F-actin. (D) Wafers with octagonal patterns designed to support a single neuronal cell body at each node. (E, F) Primary hippocampal neurons plated on micropatterned PLL and immunostained for beta-III tubulin. These neurons position their cell bodies at the nodes and their neurites extend outward, guided by the patterned PLL.