Novel biomaterial substrates, cell culture systems comprising the same and uses thereof in cell screening applications

The invention relates to the fields of biomaterials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. More specifically, it relates to biomaterial substrates having precise surface properties and the use thereof to investigate cell-material interactions. Provided is a cell culture system comprising a biomaterial substrate comprising at least a first hear surface gradient oriented orthogonally to a second linear surface gradient, wherein said first gradient and said second gradient are selected from the group consisting of stiffness (S), (aligned) topography (T) and wettability (W). Also provided is a cell screening platform comprising a combination of at least two, preferably at least three, more preferably four distinct cell culture systems.