Mechanical regulation of cell function with geometrically modulated elastomeric substrates
Open accessAbstract
We report the establishment of a library of micromolded elastomeric micropost arrays to modulate substrate rigidity independently of effects on adhesive and other material surface properties. We demonstrated that micropost rigidity impacts cell morphology, focal adhesions, cytoskeletal contractility and stem cell differentiation. Furthermore, early changes in cytoskeletal contractility predicted later stem cell fate decisions in single cells.
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Micro-patterned substrates such as cell-adhesive islands, microwells, and micropillars have been created to customize 2D cell shape and study effects of cell shape on bioactivities.
“To control cell shape in 2D cell culture, micro-patterned substrates, such as cell-adhesive islands (30), microwells (121), and micropillars (40), have been created to customize the 2D shape of cells and help study the effects of cell shape on bioactivities.”
From Modeling physiological events in 2D vs. 3D cell culture (2017) · cites this paper as [40]
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- Authors
- Fu, J., Wang, Y.-K., Yang, M. T., Desai, R. A., Yu, X., Liu, Z., & Chen, C. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Christopher S
- Venue
- Nature Methods
- Published
- 2010-08-01
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 733-736
- ISSN
- 1548-7091 (ISSN-L)
- 1548-7105
- PMC
- PMC3069358
- OpenAlex
- W2110148884
- Cited by
- 1,073
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 42 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 68 · 2019: 77 · 2018: 77 · 2017: 90 · 2016: 91 · 2015: 95 · 2014: 90 · 2013: 78 · 2012: 84
- FWCI
- 32.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- addendum (2011-01-28)
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Nature Methods (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Taipei Medical University Repository (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL73305, R01HL073305)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM074048, GM74048)
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (EB 00262, P41EB001046, R01EB000262)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › 3D Printing in Biomedical Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Keywords
- substrate stiffness, micropost arrays, elastomeric substrates, micromolding, cell morphology, focal adhesions, cytoskeletal contractility, stem cell differentiation, mechanobiology
- MeSH terms
- Cell Adhesion, Cells, Cultured, Dimethylpolysiloxanes, Humans, Materials Testing, Particle Size, Polymers, Silicon, Stress, Mechanical, Surface Properties, Microscopy, Atomic Force, Elastomers, Endothelial Cells, Mesenchymal Stem Cells
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