Cell-Mediated fiber recruitment drives extra-cellular matrix mechanosensing in engineered fibrillar microenvironments
Event details
| Date | 17.06.2016 |
| Hour | 12:15 |
| Speaker | Prof. Brendon Baker, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (USA) |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
To investigate how cells sense stiffness in settings relevant to the architecture of native extracellular matrices (ECM), we designed a synthetic fibrous material with tunable mechanics and user-defined architecture. In contrast to flat hydrogels, these fibrous materials recapitulated cell-matrix interactions of collagen matrices including arborized cell morphologies, cell-mediated realignment of ECM fibers, and bulk contraction of the material. Surprisingly, while increasing stiffness induced cell spreading and proliferation on flat hydrogels, higher stiffness in fibrous matrices instead suppressed spreading and proliferation. Lower stiffness in fibrous networks permitted active cellular forces to recruit nearby fibers, dynamically increasing ligand density and stiffness local to the cell and promoting the formation of focal adhesions and related signaling. These studies demonstrate a departure from the well-described relationship between material stiffness and spreading established by flat hydrogel surfaces, and introduce fiber recruitment as a novel mechanism by which cells probe and respond to mechanics in fibrillar matrices.
Bio:
Dr. Baker has recently become a tenure-track assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. Before moving to Michigan, he was working with Dr. Christopher Chen at Boston University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering to understand the interplay between the fibrous cellular microenvironment and fundamental cell processes such as migration, proliferation, differentiation, and extracellular matrix synthesis. He received his PhD under Dr. Robert Mauck at University of Pennsylvania, engineering stem cell-derived tissue replacements that replicate the form and function of native fibrous tissues such as the meniscus through the design of new biomaterials and mechanical bioreactors. His research interests lie broadly at the intersection of materials science, mechanobiology, and tissue engineering.
To investigate how cells sense stiffness in settings relevant to the architecture of native extracellular matrices (ECM), we designed a synthetic fibrous material with tunable mechanics and user-defined architecture. In contrast to flat hydrogels, these fibrous materials recapitulated cell-matrix interactions of collagen matrices including arborized cell morphologies, cell-mediated realignment of ECM fibers, and bulk contraction of the material. Surprisingly, while increasing stiffness induced cell spreading and proliferation on flat hydrogels, higher stiffness in fibrous matrices instead suppressed spreading and proliferation. Lower stiffness in fibrous networks permitted active cellular forces to recruit nearby fibers, dynamically increasing ligand density and stiffness local to the cell and promoting the formation of focal adhesions and related signaling. These studies demonstrate a departure from the well-described relationship between material stiffness and spreading established by flat hydrogel surfaces, and introduce fiber recruitment as a novel mechanism by which cells probe and respond to mechanics in fibrillar matrices.
Bio:
Dr. Baker has recently become a tenure-track assistant professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. Before moving to Michigan, he was working with Dr. Christopher Chen at Boston University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering to understand the interplay between the fibrous cellular microenvironment and fundamental cell processes such as migration, proliferation, differentiation, and extracellular matrix synthesis. He received his PhD under Dr. Robert Mauck at University of Pennsylvania, engineering stem cell-derived tissue replacements that replicate the form and function of native fibrous tissues such as the meniscus through the design of new biomaterials and mechanical bioreactors. His research interests lie broadly at the intersection of materials science, mechanobiology, and tissue engineering.
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