LMP Seminar: Cell layers as actuators
LMP Seminar
- Datum: 25.03.2025
- Uhrzeit: 14:00 - 15:30
- Vortragende(r): Prof. Dr. Francesca Serra
- Dept. of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark
- Ort: Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation (MPIDS)
- Raum: Riemannraum 1.40 & ZOOM Meeting ID: 997 1155 2453 Passcode: 771001
- Gastgeber: MPIDS / LMP
- Kontakt: golestanian-office@ds.mpg.de
The alignment of fibers and cells in living tissues determine the mechanics of the tissue and are key to many processes such as cell migration. In this sense, we can consider tissues as anisotropic elastic materials. In our work, we explore a possible analogy between layers of cells and a type of anisotropic elastic material, namely liquid crystal elastomers.
We grow NIH-3T3 fibroblasts on 2-dimensional flat and micro-patterned substrates. If the adhesion between the cells and the substrate is sufficiently weak, the cells grown at high density spontaneously detach to form a thin free-floating layer. Upon detachment, the layer contracts along both directions on the plane. However, while layers grown on flat substrates contract isotropically, layers grown on micro-patterned substrates contract anisotropically, with maximal contraction along the nematic director. The detachment becomes our actuation stimulus, and we verify that it induces a decrease in nematic order parameter. We use this concept to program Gaussian curvature in the detached fibroblast layers, thus demonstrating the possibility to control the final shape of the cell layers through 2-D alignment.
We grow NIH-3T3 fibroblasts on 2-dimensional flat and micro-patterned substrates. If the adhesion between the cells and the substrate is sufficiently weak, the cells grown at high density spontaneously detach to form a thin free-floating layer. Upon detachment, the layer contracts along both directions on the plane. However, while layers grown on flat substrates contract isotropically, layers grown on micro-patterned substrates contract anisotropically, with maximal contraction along the nematic director. The detachment becomes our actuation stimulus, and we verify that it induces a decrease in nematic order parameter. We use this concept to program Gaussian curvature in the detached fibroblast layers, thus demonstrating the possibility to control the final shape of the cell layers through 2-D alignment.