Wei, D., Charlton, L., Glidle, A., Qi, N., Dobson, P. S. , Dalby, M. J. , Fan, H. and Yin, H. (2021) Dynamically modulated core-shell microfibers to study the effect of depth sensing of matrix stiffness on stem cell fate. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13(32), pp. 37997-38006. (doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c06752) (PMID:34355561)
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Abstract
It is well known that extracellular matrix stiffness can affect cell fate and change dynamically during many biological processes. Existing experimental means for in situ matrix stiffness modulation often alters its structure, which could induce additional undesirable effects on cells. Inspired by the phenomenon of depth sensing by cells, we introduce here core–shell microfibers with a thin collagen core for cell growth and an alginate shell that can be dynamically stiffened to deliver mechanical stimuli. This allows for the maintenance of biochemical properties and structure of the surrounding microenvironment, while dynamically modulating the effective modulus “felt” by cells. We show that simple addition of Sr2+ in media can easily increase the stiffness of initially Ca2+ cross-linked alginate shells. Thus, despite the low stiffness of collagen cores (<5 kPa), the effective modulus of the matrix “felt” by cells are substantially higher, which promotes osteogenesis differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells. We show this effect is more prominent in the stiffening microfiber compared to a static microfiber control. This approach provides a versatile platform to independently and dynamically modulate cellular microenvironments with desirable biochemical, physical, and mechanical stimuli without an unintended interplay of effects, facilitating investigations of a wide range of dynamic cellular processes.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Yin, Professor Huabing and Dalby, Professor Matthew and Wei, Dan and Charlton, Ms Laura and Glidle, Dr Andrew and Dobson, Dr Phil |
| Creator Roles: | Wei, D.Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Validation, Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Visualization Charlton, L.Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation Glidle, A.Methodology, Writing – review and editing Dobson, P. S.Methodology, Writing – review and editing Dalby, M. J.Methodology, Writing – review and editing Yin, H.Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Visualization, Resources, Funding acquisition |
| Authors: | Wei, D., Charlton, L., Glidle, A., Qi, N., Dobson, P. S., Dalby, M. J., Fan, H., and Yin, H. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Molecular Biosciences College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering |
| Journal Name: | ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces |
| Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
| ISSN: | 1944-8244 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1944-8252 |
| Published Online: | 06 August 2021 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2021 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 13(32): 37997-38006 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
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