Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Polymeric hydrogels are valuable platforms for determining how specific mechanical properties of native tissue extracellular matrix (ECM) regulate cell function. Recent research has focused on incorporating viscous and elastic properties into hydrogels to investigate cellular responses to time-dependent mechanical properties of the ECM. However, a critical aspect is that cells continuously remodel their microenvironment in hydrogels, such as by the deposition of newly secreted (nascent) ECM. While this nascent ECM has been demonstrated to play a vital role in transmitting mechanical signals across various biological contexts, the mechanisms by which it regulates cellular function in response to time-dependent mechanical properties remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed an interpenetrating polymer network that enables independent control of viscous and elastic hydrogel properties. We show that cells cultured on high-viscosity hydrogels deposit increased nascent ECM, which also correlates with enhanced hydrogel remodeling. Interestingly, higher nascent ECM deposition on high-viscosity hydrogels was decoupled from intracellular contractility. These results establish a relationship between hydrogel viscosity and nascent ECM deposition that may extend to diverse cell types and offer new insights into cell-hydrogel interactions.
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Medicine
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,550
Awards: G1033358532, G1287925916, G1906632938, G1925766054, G223564834, G2479690624, G2522886845, Tissue Engineering and Regeneration, G5399661163, G550184775, Multidisciplinary Training Program in Lung Disease, G726191677, Engineered alveolar organoids to understand ECM signaling, G9000084133, Implementing the nascent ECM into the dynamic reciprocity of cell-ECM interactions
OpenAlex ID: W4413115703