Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 44, Issue -, Pages 186-194Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.12.018
Keywords
Direct laser writing; Focal contact; Scaffolds; Mechanical properties; Cell adhesion
Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
- State of Baden-Wurttemberg
- KIT through projects of the DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) [A1.04, E2.03]
- KIT through the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP)
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In vivo, cells are exposed to mechanical forces in many different ways. These forces can strongly influence cell functions or may even lead to diseases. Through their sensing machinery, cells are able to perceive the physical information of the extracellular matrix and translate it into biochemical signals resulting in cellular responses. Here, by virtue of two-component polymer scaffolds made via direct laser writing, we precisely control the cell matrix adhesions regarding their spatial arrangement and size. This leads to highly controlled and uniform cell morphologies, thereby allowing for averaging over the results obtained from several different individual cells, enabling quantitative analysis. We transiently deform these elastic structures by a micromanipulator, which exerts controlled stretching forces on primary fibroblasts grown in these scaffolds on a subcellular level. We find stretch-induced remodeling of both actin cytoskeleton and cell matrix adhesions. The responses to static and periodic stretching are significantly different. The amount of paxillin and phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase increases in cell matrix adhesions at the manipulated pillar after static stretching whereas it decreases after periodic stretching. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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