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Mechanical Properties of Cellularly Responsive Hydrogels and Their Experimental Determination

Mechanical Properties of Cellularly Responsive Hydrogels and Their Experimental Determination Hydrogels are increasingly employed as multidimensional cell culture platforms often with a necessity that they respond to or control the cellular environment. Specifically, synthetic hydrogels, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)‐based gels, are frequently utilized for probing the microenvironment's influence on cell function, as the gel properties can be precisely controlled in space and time. Synthetically tunable parameters, such as monomer structure and concentration, facilitate initial gel property control, while incorporation of responsive degradable units enables cell‐ and/or user‐directed degradation. Such responsive gel systems are complex with dynamic changes occurring over multiple time‐scales, and cells encapsulated in these synthetic hydrogels often experience and dictate local property changes profoundly different from those in the bulk material. Consequently, advances in bulk and local measurement techniques are needed to monitor property evolution quantatively and understand its effect on cell function. Here, recent progress in cell‐responsive PEG hydrogel synthesis and mechanical property characterization is reviewed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Advanced Materials Wiley

Mechanical Properties of Cellularly Responsive Hydrogels and Their Experimental Determination

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References (109)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISSN
0935-9648
eISSN
1521-4095
DOI
10.1002/adma.200904179
pmid
20473984
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Hydrogels are increasingly employed as multidimensional cell culture platforms often with a necessity that they respond to or control the cellular environment. Specifically, synthetic hydrogels, such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)‐based gels, are frequently utilized for probing the microenvironment's influence on cell function, as the gel properties can be precisely controlled in space and time. Synthetically tunable parameters, such as monomer structure and concentration, facilitate initial gel property control, while incorporation of responsive degradable units enables cell‐ and/or user‐directed degradation. Such responsive gel systems are complex with dynamic changes occurring over multiple time‐scales, and cells encapsulated in these synthetic hydrogels often experience and dictate local property changes profoundly different from those in the bulk material. Consequently, advances in bulk and local measurement techniques are needed to monitor property evolution quantatively and understand its effect on cell function. Here, recent progress in cell‐responsive PEG hydrogel synthesis and mechanical property characterization is reviewed.

Journal

Advanced MaterialsWiley

Published: Aug 17, 2010

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