Time-dependent migratory behaviors in the long-term studies of fibroblast durotaxis on a hydrogel substrate fabricated with a soft band.

ABSTRACT: Durotaxis, biased cell movement up a stiffness gradient on culture substrates, is one of the useful taxis behaviors for manipulating cell migration on engineered biomaterial surfaces. In this study, long-term durotaxis was investigated on gelatinous substrates containing a soft band of 20, 50, and 150 μm in width fabricated using photolithographic elasticity patterning; sharp elasticity boundaries with a gradient strength of 300 kPa/50 μm were achieved. Time-dependent migratory behaviors of 3T3 fibroblast cells were observed during a time period of 3 days. During the first day, most of the cells were strongly repelled by the soft band independent of bandwidth, exhibiting the typical durotaxis behavior. However, the repellency by the soft band diminished, and more cells crossed the soft ban

SUBMITTER: Kuboki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4051246 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature