Patterning
Cellular Alignment through Stretching Hydrogels
with Programmable Strain Gradients
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Abstract
The graded mechanical properties
(e.g., stiffness and stress/strain)
of excellular matrix play an important role in guiding cellular alignment,
as vital in tissue <i>reconstruction with proper functions</i>. Though various methods have been developed to engineer a graded
mechanical environment to study its effect on cellular behaviors,
most of them failed to distinguish stiffness effect from stress/strain
effect during mechanical loading. Here, we construct a mechanical
environment with programmable strain gradients by using a hydrogel
of a linear elastic property. When seeding cells on such hydrogels,
we demonstrate that the pattern of cellular alignment can be rather
precisely tailored by substrate strains. The experiment is in consistency
with a theoritical prediction when assuming that focal adhesions (FAs)
would drive a cell to reorient to the directions where they are most
stable. A fundamental theory has also been developed and is excellent
in agreement with the complete temporal alignment of cells. This work
not only provides important insights into the cellular response to
the local mechanical microenvironment but can also be utilized to
engineer patterned cellular alignment that can be critical in tissue
remodeling and regenerative medicine applications