• silicon
• nanopillar
• microfabrication
• Jurkat
• electrochemical etching
• cell culture
• CD4
• T cell
• transfection

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the interactions of silicon nanopillar (SiNP) arrays with human immune cells in order to achieve their effective transfection. A novel microstructuring technology, namely electrochemical micromachining (ECM), allows to fabricate SiNP arrays, featuring different heights, pitches and shapes. The SiNP arrays, adequately coated with genetic material – specifically, plasmid DNA - are used as substrates for cell seeding in order to evaluate cell viability, transfection efficiency and detachmnent capability. In particular, immune T cells, namely Jurkat (immortalized human cells) and CD4 (primary human cells) have been used to obtain, through their transfection, human CAR T cells, a cell type which is nowadays considered particularly promising for its use in personalized cancer treatments.