UV-Modulated Substrate Rigidity for Multiscale Study of Mechanoresponsive Cellular Behaviors

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• 作者：Yubing Sun ; Liang-Ting Jiang ; Ryoji Okada ; Jianping Fu
• 刊名：Langmuir
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：July 24, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：28
• 期：29
• 页码：10789-10796
• 全文大小：373K
• 年卷期：v.28,no.29(July 24, 2012)
• ISSN：1520-5827

文摘

Mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) have profound effects on cellular functions. Here, we applied novel photosensitive polydimethylsiloxane (photoPDMS) chemistry to create photosensitive, biocompatible photoPDMS as a rigidity-tunable material for study of mechanoresponsive cellular behaviors. By modulating the PDMS cross-linker to monomer ratio, UV light exposure time, and postexposure baking time, we achieved a broad range of bulk Young鈥檚 modulus for photoPDMS from 0.027 to 2.48 MPa. Biocompatibility of photoPDMS was assayed, and no significant cytotoxic effect was detected as compared to conventional PDMS. We demonstrated that the bulk Young鈥檚 modulus of photoPDMS could impact cell morphology, adhesion formation, cytoskeletal structure, and cell proliferation. We further fabricated photoPDMS micropost arrays for multiscale study of mechanoresponsive cellular behaviors. Our results suggested that adherent cells could sense and respond to changes of substrate rigidity at a subfocal adhesion resolution. Together, we demonstrated the potential of photoPDMS as a photosensitive and rigidity-tunable material for mechanobiology studies.