The nanoscale surface topography of artificial materials is known to play a significant role in interactions with biological systems such as proteins and cells. A detailed understanding, and ultimately control, of these interactions is therefore of utmost importance in areas such as cell culture technology, biosensing and medical device development. We briefly review different methods to synthesise and fabricate surfaces with well-defined nanoscale topography, and discuss how such nanostructured surfaces can be used as model systems in protein and cellular assays. Finally, an outlook of possible future in vitro and in vivo developments is provided.