Australian researchers have grown invasive breast cancer cells on arrays of tiny mushroom-like microstructures and shown that their shape and ‘wettability’ effects how cells attach to and grow on them.
The ‘re-entrant microstructures’ have overhanging, mushroom cap-like edges and were designed in circular, triangular and linear shapes. They were fabricated from 2 different materials: silicon dioxide (SiO₂), which attracts water, and silicon carbide (SiC) which repels it.
“Cells don’t just respond to chemicals, they ‘feel’ their surroundings,” says Dr Navid Kashaninejad from Griffith University’s Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Research Institute (QUATRI) and School of Engineering and Built Environment.
“By changing curvature, spacing and surface chemistry, we can nudge how aggressive cancer cells attach and grow.”
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of re-entrant microstructures capped with silicon carbide (SiC). Credit: Huy Vu et al 2025, Advanced Materials Interfaces
Kashaninejad and collaborators found that the breast cancer cells grew and spread more on surfaces with greater solid area, such as lines and flat surfaces, while more sparsely spaced structures hindered cell expansion.
Across all the designs, those made of SiO₂ were most friendly to the cancer cells.
The findings underscore the importance of surface structure and chemistry in promoting certain cellular pathways which allow cells to attach and grow.
SEM images of SiC capped re-entrant microstructures following culture with human breast cancer cells. Credit: Huy Vu et al 2025, Advanced Materials Interface
Kashaninejad says the method mimicked the environment of real tumours more accurately in the lab, which means it could greatly improve how new cancer drugs are tested.
“It also opens the door to better ways of identifying treatments that stop cancer cells from spreading,” he says.
“In the future, this approach could even be used to design medical implants or surface coatings that make it harder for cancer to grow on them.”
The findings have been published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.