Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
201,818 studies31 sourcesUpdated 56 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY-NCScience Advances

In situ processing of fibrous hydrogels by photochemistry for adaptive cellular microenvironments

  • Wen Chen1,2
  • Zhengdong Gao2
  • Hongjuan Weng2
  • Hongbo Yuan3,4
  • Roy van Alst1
  • Rong Wang5
  • Jyoti Kumari1
  • Lorenzo Moroni2
  • Paul H. J. Kouwer1
5 affiliations
  1. 1Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
  2. 2MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, Department of Complex Tissue Regeneration, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
  3. 3Molecular imaging and Photonics, department of chemistry, KU Leuven, Flanders, Belgium.
  4. 4Key laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Hebei Province, institute of Biophysics,School of health Sciences and Biomedical engineering, Hebei University of technology, Tianjin 300401, P.R. China.
  5. 5Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Dentistry - Regenerative Biomaterials, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Philips van Leydenlaan 25, 6525 EX Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Omnipresent in biology, fibrous networks like collagen possess unique properties: dynamic network via crosslinking and degradation. This intrinsic adaptivity plays a critical role in regulating cell behavior via cell-matrix interactions. Built from biological building blocks, however, these networks are challenging to manipulate or even control. Here, we introduce dynamic network regulation via photochemical control in a synthetic and fibrous highly biomimetic hydrogel. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that the dynamic control over the mechanical properties of this adaptive in vitro model can be used to modulate cell spreading and mechanotransduction in three-dimensional (3D) mesenchymal stromal cell cultures. Our approach not only opens the door to on-demand mechanically adaptive gels with unprecedented control, but simultaneously offers easy processibility and cell extraction of the used synthetic gel.

Related

  1. Adaptive Cellular Responsiveness to Electrical Stimulation at the Skin‐Electrode Interface
    Yeon Jae Chang, Soon Jin Choi, Khandoker Asiqur Rahaman +9
    Advanced SciencePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textGeneral medicinePMC
  2. Living in an unresolved trauma system: Women’s experiences of infertility-related distress through an adaptive information processing lens
    Patricia L. Jackson, Peter Saunders, Simone Mizzi +1
    Women's HealthPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC 4.0Full textObstetrics, gynaecology & paediatricsPMC
  3. High-resolution spatial transcriptomics reveals fibroblast and neuroimmune microenvironments in endometriosis lesions
    Caroline M. Haney, Elaheh Alizadeh, Joshua Lee +7
    Nature CommunicationsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textObstetrics, gynaecology & paediatricsCrossref
  4. Adaptive Post-Processing Recovers Most of the Gap to nnU-Net v2 in Head and Neck GTV Segmentation: A Paired Three-Arm HECKTOR 2025 Benchmark
    R. Oyarzun Silva, P. Hernandez Hernandez
    medRxivPreprintCC BYFull textMedical imaging & radiologymedRxiv
  5. Disruption of marrow microenvironments in chronic lymphocytic leukemia by high-resolution synchrotron micro-computed tomography
    In Kyu Lee, Yoshihiro Obata, Anthony D. Pomicter +6
    Communications MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textHuman geneticsCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{chen2026situ,
  title = {{In situ processing of fibrous hydrogels by photochemistry for adaptive cellular microenvironments}},
  author = {Wen Chen and Zhengdong Gao and Hongjuan Weng and Hongbo Yuan and Roy van Alst and Rong Wang and Jyoti Kumari and Lorenzo Moroni and Paul H. J. Kouwer},
  journal = {Science Advances},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aec7416},
  url = {https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec7416},
  note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - In situ processing of fibrous hydrogels by photochemistry for adaptive cellular microenvironments
AU  - Wen Chen
AU  - Zhengdong Gao
AU  - Hongjuan Weng
AU  - Hongbo Yuan
AU  - Roy van Alst
AU  - Rong Wang
AU  - Jyoti Kumari
AU  - Lorenzo Moroni
AU  - Paul H. J. Kouwer
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/21
JO  - Science Advances
DO  - 10.1126/sciadv.aec7416
UR  - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aec7416
AB  - Omnipresent in biology, fibrous networks like collagen possess unique properties: dynamic network via crosslinking and degradation. This intrinsic adaptivity plays a critical role in regulating cell behavior via cell-matrix interactions. Built from biological building blocks, however, these networks are challenging to manipulate or even control. Here, we introduce dynamic network regulation via photochemical control in a synthetic and fibrous highly biomimetic hydrogel. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that the dynamic control over the mechanical properties of this adaptive in vitro model can be used to modulate cell spreading and mechanotransduction in three-dimensional (3D) mesenchymal stromal cell cultures. Our approach not only opens the door to on-demand mechanically adaptive gels with unprecedented control, but simultaneously offers easy processibility and cell extraction of the used synthetic gel.
SN  - 2375-2548
ER  -