ArticlePloS one2011
Stiffness gradients mimicking in vivo tissue variation regulate mesenchymal stem cell fate.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 186 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
186 citing papers in PubMed, 447 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hydrogel platforms for 3D cardiac tissue engineering and fibrotic disease modelling.FEBS open bio · 2026Review
- MXene Bioinks for 3D Bioprinting: Design and Translation.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Review
- Mechanically graded granular scaffolds for osteochondral tissue engineering.Biomaterials advances · 2026Article
- 3D-Printed Structures Versus Drilled Cavities: A Comparison of Microconfinement Methods for Rheological Characterisation of Multicellular Aggregates.Journal of molecular recognition : JMR · 2026Article
- Impact of Stiffness and Cell-Binding Motif Availability on the Cell-Specific Response to Collagen-Based Macromolecular Materials.Biomacromolecules · 2026Article
- Microengineered Gradient Hydrogels for Mechanobiology.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Mechanically Soft Phase-Separated Gelatin/Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels Support Long-Term Expansion of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells While Preserving Multipotency.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Balancing Strength and Cell Viability in Gelatin Methacrylate/Gellan Gum Bioink Formulations.ACS omega · 2026Article
- Graphene and TiACS applied bio materials · 2026Article
- Donor Variability and 3D Culture Models Influence Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation.Tissue engineering. Part A · 2026Article
- Durotaxis is a driver and potential therapeutic target in lung fibrosis and metastatic pancreatic cancer.Nature cell biology · 2025Article
- Survivin modulates stiffness-induced vascular smooth muscle cell motility.APL bioengineering · 2025Article
- Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Chondrogenic Differentiation Induced by Continuous Stiffness Gradient in Photocrosslinkable Hydrogels.Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A · 2025Article
- Mesenchymal stem cell extracellular vesicle vascularization bioactivity and production yield are responsive to cell culture substrate stiffness.Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2025Article
- Combinatorial extracellular matrix tissue chips for optimizing mesenchymal stromal cell microenvironment and manufacturing.NPJ Regenerative medicine · 2025Article
- Cellular mechanical memory: a potential tool for mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- The first embryo, the origin of cancer and animal phylogeny. V. Cancer stem cells as the unifying biomechanical principle between embryology and oncology.Mechanobiology in medicine · 2025Review
- Spatial regulation of hydrogel polymerization reaction using ultrasound-driven streaming vortex.Ultrasonics sonochemistry · 2024Article
- Tuneable Recombinant Spider Silk Protein Hydrogels for Drug Release and 3D Cell Culture.Advanced functional materials · 2024Article
- Cell Migration Assays and Their Application to Wound Healing Assays-A Critical Review.Micromachines · 2024Review
126 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation is regulated in part by tissue stiffness, yet MSCs can often encounter stiffness gradients within tissues caused by pathological, e.g., myocardial infarction ∼8.7±1.5 kPa/mm, or normal tissue variation, e.g., myocardium ∼0.6±0.9 kPa/mm; since migration predominantly occurs through physiological rather than pathological gradients, it is not clear whether MSC differentiate or migrate first. MSCs cultured up to 21 days on a hydrogel containing a physiological gradient of 1.0±0.1 kPa/mm undergo directed migration, or durotaxis, up stiffness gradients rather than remain stationary. Temporal assessment of morphology and differentiation markers indicates that MSCs migrate to stiffer matrix and then differentiate into a more contractile myogenic phenotype. In those cells migrating from soft to stiff regions however, phenotype is not completely determined by the stiff hydrogel as some cells retain expression of a neural marker. These data may indicate that stiffness variation, not just stiffness alone, can be an important regulator of MSC behavior.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.