Engineering cell shape and function through control of substrate adhesion

Recognition of the importance of cell adhesion for control of cell function has led to the development of novel techniques for fabricating bioactive substrates. Recent studies demonstrate that these culture substrata can modulate cell form, growth, and production of specialized products, independently of soluble serum components or defined growth factors. These new methods for engineering cell shape and function may be extremely useful for applications in biotechnology, such as drug screening, in vitro toxicology, genetic engineering, bioprocessing, and tissue engineering.