Tailoring cell–surface interactions is important for the of design medical implants as well as regenerative medicine and tissue engineering materials. Here the single parameter system is transcended via translating hard nanotopology into soft polymeric hydrogel structures via hydrogel imprinting lithography. The response of these cells to the nanotopology of the same dimensions but with different mechanical properties displays unexpected behavior between “hard” tissue cells and “soft” tissue cells. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

It has long been appreciated that material chemistry and topology profoundly affect cell adhesion and migration. Here, aqueous poly( N ‐isopropyl acrylamide) nanogels are designed, synthesized and printed in form of colloidal arrays on glass substrates using wrinkled polydimethylsiloxane templates. Using low‐temperature plasma treatment, nanogels are chemically grafted onto glass supports thus leading to highly stable nanogel layers in cell culture media. Liquid cell atomic force microscopy investigations show that surface‐grafted nanogels retain their swelling behavior in aqueous media and that extracellular matrix protein coating do not alter their stability and topography. It is demonstrated that surface‐grafted nanogels could serve as novel substrates for the analysis of cell adhesion and migration. Nanogels influence size, speed, and dynamics of focal adhesions and cell motility forcing cells to move along highly directional trajectories. Moreover, modulation of nanogel state or spacing serves as an effective tool for regulation of cell motility. It is suggested that nanogel arrays deposited on solid surfaces could be used to provide a precise and tunable system to understand and control cell migration. Additionally, such nanogel arrays will contribute to the development of implantable systems aimed at supporting and enhancing cell migration during, for instance, wound healing and tissue regeneration.

Microstructured hydrogel allows for a new template-guided method to obtain conductive nanowire arrays on a large scale. To generate the template, an imprinting process is used in order to synthesize the hydrogel directly into the grooves of wrinkled polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The resulting poly(N-vinylimidazole)-based hydrogel is defined by the PDMS stamp in pattern and size. Subsequently, tetrachloroaurate(III) ions from aqueous solution are coordinated within the humps of the N-vinylimidazole-containing polymer template and reduced by air plasma. After reduction and development of the gold, to achieve conductive wires, the extension perpendicular to the long axis (width) of the gold strings is considerably reduced compared to the dimension of the parental hydrogel wrinkles (from ≈1 μm down to 200-300 nm). At the same time, the wire-to-wire distance and the overall length of the wires is preserved. The PDMS templates and hydrogel structures are analyzed with scanning force microscopy (SFM) and the gold structures via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The conductivity measurements of the gold nanowires are performed in situ in the SEM, showing highly conductive gold leads. Hence, this method can be regarded as a facile nonlithographic top-down approach from micrometer-sized structures to nanometer-sized features.

Antonio Sechi and co-workers describe the fabrication of highly functional and stimuli-responsive nanogel arrays grafted onto glass surfaces by a printing process using wrinkled PDMS templates in article 1600455. These nanogels influence size and dynamics of focal adhesions as well as cell motility forcing cells to move along highly directional trajectories. The modulation of nanogel topographical and mechanical properties by temperature or spacing serves as an effective tool for the regulation of cell motility.

In this work we present the first e-microgel, whose size can be adjusted by application of an electrochemical potential, as seen by dynamic light scattering (3D-DLS in dependence of equilibrium potential) and scanning force microscopy (SFM). Hereby, polyelectrolyte microgels with attracted electroactive counterions provide an effective platform for the manipulation of the microgel size by electrochemical means. The reversible switching of guest molecules, namely, hexacyanoferrates, between oxidized ferricyanide [Fe(CN)(6)](3-) and reduced ferrocyanide [Fe(CN)(6)](4-), influences the cationic host microgel, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride) P(NIPAM-co-MAPTAC), and hence the swelling properties of the microgel. The combination of thermo- and redox-responsiveness in one particle leads to a novel type of multistimuli responsive material. In addition, the use of hydrodynamic voltammetry detects directly the preferred uptake of ferricyanide and enables the determination of the nominal charge ratio (ncr) between microgel and entrapped counterions at different states of switching. Further, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy allows a more detailed mechanistic insight into the microgel modulation.

This study effectively demonstrates that thermoresponsive, cationic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride) P(NIPAM-co-MAPTAC) microgels act as selective, closable carriers for trivalent hexacyanoferrate(III) (ferricyanide). At the same time, the microgel disregards even higher charged hexacyanoferrate(II) (ferrocyanide). This is seen by investigating the electrochemistry of hexacyanoferrates in the presence of porous microgel particles with help of cyclic voltammetry (CV), hydrodynamic voltammetry (rotating disk electrode, RDE), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). For analysis, temperature-corrected parameters for each technique are introduced. Assuming incorporation/complexation between hexacyanoferrates and microgels, different limiting scenarios for the electron pathway are proposed by discussing different life times of the hexacyanoferrates within the microgel: fast exchange (scenario 1: full electrochemical addressability of all counterions), permanent entrapment (scenario 2: still full addressability of all counterions by injection of electrons into the microgels), and full entrapment (scenario 3: only remaining free counterions are addressable). Also, negligible interaction between hexacyanoferrates and microgels can be postulated, as found experimentally for ferrocyanide [Fe(CN)(6)](4-). In contrast for ferricyanide [Fe(CN)(6)](2-), temperature even allows a switching between a dominant scenario 1 (fast exchange) in the cold and the scenario 3 (full entrapment) in the heat. In more detail, the attraction between ferricyanide and microgel is enhanced at elevated temperatures due to the collapse and increasing charge density induced by the thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) component, which in turn acts more as an insulator in the heat. Hence, only the free hexacyanoferrates are electrochemically accessible in the heat. In addition, EIS and CV indicate only a minor contribution of permanent entrapment (scenario 2) during charge transport.