title: Quantification of magnetically induced changes in ECM local apparent stiffness.
abstract: The stiffness of the extracellular matrix (ECM) is known to influence cell behavior. The ability to manipulate the stiffness of ECM has important implications in understanding how cells interact mechanically with their microenvironment. This article describes an approach to manipulating the stiffness ECM, whereby magnetic beads are embedded in the ECM through bioconjugation between the streptavidin-coated beads and the collagen fibers and then manipulated by an external magnetic field. It also reports both analytical results (obtained by formal modeling and numerical simulation) and statistically meaningful experimental results (obtained by atomic force microscopy) that demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. These results clearly suggest the possibility of creating desired stiffness gradients in ECM in vitro to influence cell behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sahan C B
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Herath
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore.
authors.forename: Du
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore.
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore.
authors.forename: Min-Cheol
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Bioengineering Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
authors.forename: Dong-An
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Qingguo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Krystyn J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Van Vliet
authors.affiliation: Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asada
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Biosystem and Micromechanics Interdisciplinary Research Group, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Program, Singapore. Electronic address: mpechenp@nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Peter C Y
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D060526:Magnetic Fields; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D008863:Microspheres; D008954:Models, Biological; D051381:Rats; D019809:Streptavidin / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen; D019809:Streptavidin