Human mesenchymal stem cell basal membrane bending on gratings is dependent on both grating width and curvature

The topography of the extracellular substrate provides physical cues to elicit specific downstream biophysical and biochemical effects in cells. An example of such a topographical substrate is periodic gratings, where the dimensions of the periodic gratings influence cell morphology and directs cell differentiation. We first develop a novel sample preparation technique using Spurr’s resin to allow for cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy imaging of cells on grating grooves, and observed that the plasma membrane on the basal surface of these cells can deform and bend into grooves between the gratings. We postulate that such membrane bending is an important first step in eliciting downstream effects. Thus, we use a combination of image analysis and mathematical modeling to explain the extent of bending of basal membrane into grooves. We show that the extent to which the basal membrane bends into grooves depends on both groove width and angle of the grating ridge. Our model predicts that the basal membrane will bend into grooves when they are wider than 1.9 µm in width. The existence of such a threshold may provide an explanation for how the width of periodic gratings may bring about cellular downstream effects, such as cell proliferation or differentiation.