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Adhesive-ligand-independent cell-shaping controlled by the lateral deformability of a condensed polymer matrix

Polymer Journal volume 54, pages 211–222 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Cell adhesion on biomaterial surfaces has been extensively studied from the perspective of the adsorption properties of adhesive ligands, while recent research on mechanobiology has been revealing a critical role of the mechanical properties of the extracellular milieu in the control of cell adhesion, such as the stiffness and viscoelasticity of the matrix. Although the effects of the lateral mobility of an adhesive ligand have been intensively investigated in a model substrate with water-soluble polymer layers, less is known about those in the setting of lateral deformability of hydrophobic condensed polymer layers. In this study, to help clarify this issue, we used PNIPAAm-grafted substrates with a well-controlled degree of graft-polymerization (DGP) as a typical hydrophobic condensed polymer surface at a cell culture temperature of 37 °C. We observed a clear negative correlation between cell spreading and DGP of PNIPAAm regardless of the amount of fibronectin adsorbed on the substrates, which was found to be attributable to the lateral deformability of a condensed PNIPAAm layer based on lateral force microscopic analysis. The surface-lateral-deformation-induced modulation in stability and maturation of focal adhesion of the cells is discussed in relation to the matrix-strain-induced alteration of the density distribution of adsorbed adhesive ligands.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by AMED-CREST under Grant Number JP20gm0810002 and by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (18H04167) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan.

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Author notes

  1. Saori Sasaki

    Present address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

  2. Hiroyuki Ebata

    Present address: Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

  3. Kosuke Moriyama

    Present address: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Sasebo College, Sasebo, Japan

  4. These authors contributed equally: Saori Sasaki, Hiroyuki Ebata

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Sayaka Masaike

  2. Lab of Biomedical and Biophysical Chemistry, Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Saori Sasaki, Hiroyuki Ebata, Kosuke Moriyama & Satoru Kidoaki

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  1. Sayaka Masaike
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Correspondence to Satoru Kidoaki.

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Masaike, S., Sasaki, S., Ebata, H. et al. Adhesive-ligand-independent cell-shaping controlled by the lateral deformability of a condensed polymer matrix. Polym J 54, 211–222 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00577-w

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