Bio-Inspired Mechanotactic Hybrids for Orchestrating Traction-Mediated Epithelial Migration

Pingqiang Cai; Michael Layani; Wan Ru Leow; Shahrouz Amini; Zhiyuan Liu; Dianpeng Qi; Benhui Hu; Yun-Long Wu; Ali Miserez; Shlomo Magdassi; Xiaodong Chen

doi:10.1002/adma.201505300

Bio-Inspired Mechanotactic Hybrids for Orchestrating Traction-Mediated Epithelial Migration

Adv Mater. 2016 Apr;28(16):3102-10. doi: 10.1002/adma.201505300. Epub 2016 Feb 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
² Casali Center, Institute of Chemistry, Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel.

PMID: 26913959
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201505300

Abstract

A platform of mechanotactic hybrids is established by projecting lateral gradients of apparent interfacial stiffness onto the planar surface of a compliant hydrogel layer using an underlying rigid substrate with microstructures inherited from 3D printed molds. Using this platform, the mechanistic coupling of epithelial migration with the stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is found to be independent of the interfacial compositional and topographical cues.

Keywords: 3D printing; bio-inspired materials; collective cell migration; mechanotaxis; stiffness gradient.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biomimetic Materials / chemistry*
Cell Movement*
Epithelial Cells / cytology*
Extracellular Matrix / chemistry*
Hydrogels / chemistry*
Printing, Three-Dimensional
Traction / methods*

Substances

Hydrogels