title: Poly(vinylmethylsiloxane) elastomer networks as functional materials for cell adhesion and migration studies.
abstract: Cell migration is central to physiological responses to injury and infection and in the design of biomaterial implants. The ability to tune the properties of adhesive materials and relate those properties in a quantitative way to the dynamics of intracellular processes remains a definite challenge in the manipulation of cell migration. Here, we propose the use of poly(vinylmethylsiloxane) (PVMS) networks as novel substrata for cell adhesion and migration. These materials offer the ability to tune independently chemical functionality and elastic modulus. Importantly, PVMS networks are compatible with total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, which is ideal for interrogating the cell-substratum interface; this latter characteristic presents a distinct advantage over polyacrylamide gels and other materials that swell with water. To demonstrate these capabilities, adhesive peptides containing the arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid (RGD) tripeptide motif were successfully grafted to the surface of PVMS network using a carboxyl-terminated thiol as a linker. Peptide-specific adhesion, spreading, and random migration of NIH 3T3 mouse fibroblasts were characterized. These experiments show that a peptide containing the synergy sequence of fibronectin (PHSRN) in addition to RGD promotes more productive cell migration without markedly enhancing cell adhesion strength. Using TIRF microscopy, the dynamics of signal transduction through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway were monitored in cells as they migrated on peptide-grafted PVMS surfaces. This approach offers a promising avenue for studies of directed migration and mechanotransduction at the level of intracellular processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7905, United States.
authors.forename: Shoeb
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Hyun-Kwan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Ali E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ozcam
authors.forename: Kirill
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Efimenko
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Weiger
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Genzer
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haugh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002465:Cell Movement; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000737:chemistry*; D012833:Siloxanes / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D011145:Polyvinyls; D012833:Siloxanes; C014766:polymethylvinylsiloxane; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid