title: Micropatterning hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels and Sylgard 184 silicone elastomers with tunable elastic moduli.
abstract: This protocol describes a simple method to deposit protein micropatterns over a wide range of culture substrate stiffness (three orders of magnitude) by using two complementary polymeric substrates. In the first part, we introduce a novel polyacrylamide hydrogel, called hydroxy-polyacrylamide (PAAm), that permits to surmount the intrinsically nonadhesive properties of polyacrylamide with minimal requirements in cost or expertize. We present a protocol for tuning easily the rigidity of "soft" hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels between ~0.5 and 50 kPa and a micropatterning method to locally deposit protein micropatterns on these hydrogels. In a second part, we describe a protocol for tuning the rigidity of "stiff" silicone elastomers between ~100 and 1000 kPa and printing efficiently proteins from the extracellular matrix. Finally, we investigate the effect of the matrix rigidity on the nucleus of primary endothelial cells by tuning the rigidity of both polymeric substrates. We envision that the complementarity of these two polymeric substrates, combined with an efficient microprinting technique, can be further developed in the future as a powerful mechanobiology platform to investigate in vitro the effect of mechanotransduction cues on cellular functions, gene expression, and stem cell differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology and Soft Matter Group, Laboratoire Interfaces et Fluides Complexes, Complexys and Biosciences Research Institutes, CIRMAP, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Versaevel
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology and Soft Matter Group, Laboratoire Interfaces et Fluides Complexes, Complexys and Biosciences Research Institutes, CIRMAP, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grevesse
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology and Soft Matter Group, Laboratoire Interfaces et Fluides Complexes, Complexys and Biosciences Research Institutes, CIRMAP, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riaz
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology and Soft Matter Group, Laboratoire Interfaces et Fluides Complexes, Complexys and Biosciences Research Institutes, CIRMAP, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Joséphine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lantoine
authors.affiliation: Mechanobiology and Soft Matter Group, Laboratoire Interfaces et Fluides Complexes, Complexys and Biosciences Research Institutes, CIRMAP, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabriele
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002460:Cell Line; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D011327:Printing; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D051381:Rats; D012826:Silicone Elastomers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D020100:Hydrogels; D011506:Proteins; D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
keywords: Hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels; Matrix stiffness; Microcontact printing; Micropattern; Polyacrylamide; Rigidity; Silicone elastomer