Regulating the mechanical properties of cells using a non-UV light-addressable hydrogel patterning process

The determination of the mechanical properties of cells plays an important role in biological studies and has gained acceptance recently as a possible label-free biomarker for cell status determination or diseases detection. Investigations on how external cellular properties affect cell mechanics are helpful in understanding cell disease processes and cell morphogenesis, which are of large significance in medical science. Although most researchers have focused on individual cell mechanics, or the effect of substrate stiffness on cells, cell mechanical response due to interactions among cells is yet to be examined. A reason for this is that the study of cell mechanical response to cell shape requires one to use a cell patterning process. However, existing cell patterning methods are very complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we describe a practical and rapid technique that can easily pattern cells into desired shapes, which allows investigations of the effect of external environment on cell stiffness. In the new technique, Poly-(ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel film with thickness 70-100 nm is controllably patterned on a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) substrate by polymerizing PEGDA molecules in-situ using programmable visual light patterns. The idea is to enable the confinement of cells cultured on the hydrogels into special areas. The elastic modulus of the patterned cells is measured using an atomic force microscope. Experimental results have demonstrated the versatility of the technique as a tool for cell pattering and exploration of cell mechanics under external mechanical stimuli.