Impact of Stiffness and Cell-Binding Motif Availability on the Cell-Specific Response to Collagen-Based Macromolecular Materials
Abstract
Although matrix stiffness is an important determinant of cell behavior, experimentally isolating mechanical cues from the surface chemistry is challenging. Here, intact collagen (Col I) or a constant density of collagen-derived cell-adhesive triple-helical peptides (GFOGER or GLOGEN) was deposited on surfaces with physiologically relevant stiffnesses. Equivalent integrin ligation on each surface decoupled stiffness from collagen-receptor ligation. The cell response was highly cell type-specific. Human dermal fibroblast (HDF) adhesion was largely insensitive to matrix stiffness, while cytoskeletal organization was promoted on stiffer substrates, equivalently for GFOGER and GLOGEN. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) adhered and formed PECAM-1-containing cell-cell junctions preferentially on lower-modulus substrates. For HUVECs, this was independent of the coating peptide; however, HDMECs possessed greater PECAM-1-containing cell junctions on GFOGER over GLOGEN. These results offer new insights into the effects of stiffness vs integrin ligation on the cellular response to materials.
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BibTeX
@article{davidenko2026impact,
title = {{Impact of Stiffness and Cell-Binding Motif Availability on the Cell-Specific Response to Collagen-Based Macromolecular Materials}},
author = {Natalia Davidenko and Daniel V Bax and Emma Hunter and Samir W Hamaia and Jean-Daniel Malcor and Richard W Farndale and Sanjay Sinha and Serena M Best and Ruth E Cameron},
journal = {Biomacromolecules},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1021/acs.biomac.5c01434},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05844037v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Impact of Stiffness and Cell-Binding Motif Availability on the Cell-Specific Response to Collagen-Based Macromolecular Materials
AU - Natalia Davidenko
AU - Daniel V Bax
AU - Emma Hunter
AU - Samir W Hamaia
AU - Jean-Daniel Malcor
AU - Richard W Farndale
AU - Sanjay Sinha
AU - Serena M Best
AU - Ruth E Cameron
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/25
JO - Biomacromolecules
DO - 10.1021/acs.biomac.5c01434
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05844037v1
AB - Although matrix stiffness is an important determinant of cell behavior, experimentally isolating mechanical cues from the surface chemistry is challenging. Here, intact collagen (Col I) or a constant density of collagen-derived cell-adhesive triple-helical peptides (GFOGER or GLOGEN) was deposited on surfaces with physiologically relevant stiffnesses. Equivalent integrin ligation on each surface decoupled stiffness from collagen-receptor ligation. The cell response was highly cell type-specific. Human dermal fibroblast (HDF) adhesion was largely insensitive to matrix stiffness, while cytoskeletal organization was promoted on stiffer substrates, equivalently for GFOGER and GLOGEN. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMECs) adhered and formed PECAM-1-containing cell-cell junctions preferentially on lower-modulus substrates. For HUVECs, this was independent of the coating peptide; however, HDMECs possessed greater PECAM-1-containing cell junctions on GFOGER over GLOGEN. These results offer new insights into the effects of stiffness vs integrin ligation on the cellular response to materials.
SN - 1525-7797
SN - 1526-4602
ER -