title: Photoactivatable Substrates: A Material-Based Approach for Dissecting Cell Migration.
abstract: Photoactivatable substrates, which show changes in surface cell adhesiveness in response to photoirradiation, are promising platforms for cell manipulation with high spatiotemporal resolution. In addition to having applications in cell and tissue engineering, these materials are unique tools for basic biological sciences research, and they complement conventional genetic engineering technologies. One of the most useful applications is in the study of cell migration, which occurs in various physiological and pathological processes. In this personal account, I provide a brief overview of the development of photoactivatable substrates and their applications, highlighting in particular the contributions of our research group to collective cell migration studies. This material-based approach is useful for dissecting the molecular biological and mechanobiological aspects of the regulatory mechanisms in the cellular social activities.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, 305-0044, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D010782:Photolysis / Q000528:radiation effects; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid
keywords: caged compound; cell migration; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; mechanobiology; patterning