ArticleNature communications2019
Cytoskeletal stiffening in synthetic hydrogels.
Article in Nature communications, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 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
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
- A biohybrid system to reconstruct epithelial morphomechanicsMaterials today. Bio · 2026Article
- SynBioNanoDesign: pioneering targeted drug delivery with engineered nanomaterials.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2025Review
- Bio-orthogonal tuning of matrix properties during 3D cell culture to induce morphological and phenotypic changes.Nature protocols · 2025Review
- Dynamic Hydrogel-Based Strategy for Traumatic Brain Injury Modeling and Therapy.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Review
- Well-Defined Synthetic Copolymers with Pendant Aldehydes Form Biocompatible Strain-Stiffening Hydrogels and Enable Competitive Ligand Displacement.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2024Article
- Molecularly Engineered Supramolecular Thermoresponsive Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanical and Dynamic Properties.Biomacromolecules · 2024Article
- Tuning Structural Organization via Molecular Design and Hierarchical Assembly to Develop Supramolecular Thermoresponsive Hydrogels.Macromolecules · 2024Article
- Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels: The Dynamic Smart Biomaterials of Tomorrow.Macromolecules · 2023Review
- Modeling the Maturation of the Vocal Fold Lamina Propria Using a Bioorthogonally Tunable Hydrogel Platform.Advanced healthcare materials · 2023Article
- Mechanical Behavior of 3D Printed Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate Hydrogels in Hydrated Conditions Investigated Using Atomic Force Microscopy.ACS applied polymer materials · 2023Article
- Synthetic fibrous hydrogels as a platform to decipher cell-matrix mechanical interactions.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Hydrogels as functional components in artificial cell systems.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2022Review
- Novel Synthetic Polymer-Based 3D Contraction Assay: A Versatile Preclinical Research Platform for Fibrosis.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2022Article
- A Temperature-Based Easy-Separable (TempEasy) 3D Hydrogel Coculture System.Advanced healthcare materials · 2022Article
- Cell-matrix reciprocity in 3D culture models with nonlinear elasticity.Bioactive materials · 2022Review
- Materials science and mechanosensitivity of living matter.Applied physics reviews · 2022Review
- Magnetic Stiffening in 3D Cell Culture Matrices.Nano letters · 2021Article
- Hydrogel Models with Stiffness Gradients for Interrogating Pancreatic Cancer Cell Fate.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Fast and Large Shrinking of Thermoresponsive Hydrogels with Phase-Separated Structures.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Tunable Hybrid Matrices Drive Epithelial Morphogenesis and YAP Translocation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although common in biology, controlled stiffening of hydrogels in vitro is difficult to achieve; the required stimuli are commonly large and/or the stiffening amplitudes small. Here, we describe the hierarchical mechanics of ultra-responsive hybrid hydrogels composed of two synthetic networks, one semi-flexible and stress-responsive, the other flexible and thermoresponsive. Heating collapses the flexible network, which generates internal stress that causes the hybrid gel to stiffen up to 50 times its original modulus; an effect that is instantaneous and fully reversible. The average generated forces amount to ~1 pN per network fibre, which are similar to values found for stiffening resulting from myosin molecular motors in actin. The excellent control, reversible nature and large response gives access to many biological and bio-like applications, including tissue engineering with truly dynamic mechanics and life-like matter.
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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.