Dynamic stiffening of poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogels to direct valvular interstitial cell phenotype in a three-dimensional environment.

ABSTRACT: Valvular interstitial cells (VICs) are active regulators of valve homeostasis and disease, responsible for secreting and remodeling the valve tissue matrix. As a result of VIC activity, the valve modulus can substantially change during development, injury and repair, and disease progression. While two-dimensional biomaterial substrates have been used to study mechanosensing and its influence on VIC phenotype, less is known about how these cells respond to matrix modulus in a three-dimensional environment. Here, we synthesized MMP-degradable poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels with elastic moduli ranging from 0.24 kPa to 12 kPa and observed that cell morphology was constrained in stiffer gels. To vary gel stiffness without substantially changing cell morphology, cell-laden hydrogels were

SUBMITTER: Mabry KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4346780 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature