Open AccessEngineering fiber anisotropy within natural collagen hydrogels
Author(s) -
Adeel Ahmed,
Indranil M. Joshi,
Mehran Mansouri,
Nuzhet Nihaar Nasir Ahamed,
Meng-Chun Hsu,
Thomas R. Gaborski,
Vinay V. Abhyankar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
american journal of physiology. cell physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.432
H-Index - 181
eISSN - 1522-1563
pISSN - 0363-6143
DOI - 10.1152/ajpcell.00036.2021
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , extracellular matrix , tissue engineering , materials science , anisotropy , fiber , nanotechnology , in vivo , biomedical engineering , chemistry , composite material , engineering , biology , biochemistry , physics , polymer chemistry , optics , microbiology and biotechnology
It is well known that biophysical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), including stiffness, porosity, composition, and fiber alignment (anisotropy), play a crucial role in controlling cell behavior in vivo. Type I collagen (collagen I) is a ubiquitous structural component in the ECM and has become a popular hydrogel material that can be tuned to replicate the mechanical properties found in vivo. In this review article, we describe popular methods to create 2-D and 3-D collagen I hydrogels with anisotropic fiber architectures. We focus on methods that can be readily translated from engineering and materials science laboratories to the life-science community with the overall goal of helping to increase the physiological relevance of cell culture assays.