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Abstract

Physical forces play an important role in the regulation of various life phenomena. Our research group develops various dynamic scaffold materials to study cellular mechanobiology (1). Specifically, we are developing photoresponsive substrates, whose cell adhesiveness or stiffness can be altered by photoirradiation (2,3). These scaffolds are useful to investigate the impact of mechanochemical cues driven from extracellular matrices (ECMs) on collective migration behavior and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in a spatiotemporally controlled manner. Another area of research involves the fluid interface between water and hydrophobic liquids (4-6). By appropriately choosing the hydrophobic liquids, we can induce the formation of protein nanolayers at the interface through interfacial tension-driven protein jamming, which are robust enough to serve as cell scaffolds. Their mechanical properties change depending on the subphase liquids, thereby altering cellular adhesion behavior and fate. In this seminar, I will present the applications of our functional materials in elucidating cellular mechanobiological responses and explore the potential direction for cell engineering and therapeutic interventions.

(1) Nakanishi J and Uto K, "Material-based Mechanobiology", 2022. eISBN: 978-1-83916-537-5. (2) Rolli C et al. Biomaterials, 2012, 33, 2409. (3) Homma K et al. Acta Biomater., 2021, 132, 103. (4) Jia X et al. Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, 1905942. (5) Ueki T et al, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2310105. (6) Lu Z et al, Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2403396.