Stress relaxation amplitude of hydrogels determines migration, proliferation, and morphology of cells in 3-D
Stress relaxation amplitude of hydrogels determines migration, proliferation, and morphology of cells in 3-D
The viscoelastic behavior of hydrogel matrices sensitively influences the cell behavior in 3D culture and biofabricated tissue model systems. Previous reports have demonstrated that cells tend to adhere, spread, migrate and proliferate better in hydrogels with pronounced stress relaxation. However, it is currently unknown if cells respond more sensitively to the amplitude of stress relaxation, or to the relaxation time constant. To test this, we compare the behavior of fibroblasts cultured for up to 10 days in alginate and oxidized alginate hydrogels with similar Young’s moduli but diverging stress relaxation behavior. We find that fibroblasts elongate, migrate and proliferate better in hydrogels that display a higher stress relaxation amplitude. By contrast, the cells’ response to the relaxation time constant was less pronounced and less consistent. Together, these data suggest that it is foremost the stress relaxation amplitude of the matrix that determines the ability of cells to locally penetrate and remodel the matrix, which subsequently leads to better spreading, faster migration, and higher cell proliferation. We conclude that the stress relaxation amplitude is a central design parameter for optimizing cell behavior in 3-D hydrogels.
Endrizzi Nadine、Boccaccini Aldo R.、Fabry Ben、Hazur Jonas、Schubert Dirk W.
Department of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-N¨1rnbergInstitute of Biomaterials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit?t Erlangen-N¨1rnbergDepartment of Physics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-N¨1rnbergInstitute of Biomaterials, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit?t Erlangen-N¨1rnbergInstitute for Polymer Materials, University of Erlangen-N¨1rnberg
细胞生物学生物物理学生物工程学
Endrizzi Nadine,Boccaccini Aldo R.,Fabry Ben,Hazur Jonas,Schubert Dirk W..Stress relaxation amplitude of hydrogels determines migration, proliferation, and morphology of cells in 3-D[EB/OL].(2025-03-28)[2025-06-29].https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.08.451608.点此复制
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