Bio-Inspired Mechanotactic Hybrids for Orchestrating Traction-Mediated Epithelial Migration.

Cai, Pingqiang; Layani, Michael; Leow, Wan Ru; Amini, Shahrouz; Liu, Zhiyuan; Qi, Dianpeng; Hu, Benhui; Wu, Yun-Long et al. · Adv Mater · 2016

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A platform of mechanotactic hybrids is established by projecting lateral gradients of apparent interfacial stiffness onto the planar surface of a compliant hydrogel layer using an underlying rigid substrate with microstructures inherited from 3D printed molds. Using this platform, the mechanistic coupling of epithelial migration with the stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is found to be independent of the interfacial compositional and topographical cues.

Medical subject headings