Overview

• Griffith University engineers fabricated circular, triangular and linear re-entrant caps in hydrophilic SiO₂ and hydrophobic SiC to isolate effects of shape and surface chemistry.
• In three-day cultures of the triple-negative MDA‑MB‑231 line, cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation shifted with curvature, spacing and material wettability.
• Cells expanded more on designs with greater solid area, such as lines and flat regions, while sparser spacing hindered growth, with SiO₂ surfaces proving more permissive than SiC across patterns.
• PrestoBlue metabolic assays, fluorescence microscopy and SEM documented the mechanosensitive responses and cytoskeletal organization on each microstructured surface.
• Researchers say the approach could yield more tumor-like in vitro drug-testing platforms and inform coatings or implants designed to resist cancer cell colonization, with the robust structures suited to longer-term biointerfaces.