Hydrogel Viscoelasticity: Control of Mammalian Cell Fate to Medical Adhesives
The stiffness of the materials surrounding cells in tissues is widely appreciated as a key variable in the response of adherent cells, but tissues are viscoelastic, with time-dependent mechanical behavior.
We have demonstrated that the rate of matrix stress relaxation has dramatic effects on stem cell fate, and recently found it impacts multiple cell types in the tumor microenvironment, including cancer cells, monocytes, and T cells.
Inspired by the importance of viscoelasticity in biology, new medical adhesives are being synthesized from energy dissipative hydrogel networks.
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