Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33382239›Full record

ArticleACS biomaterials science & engineering2021

An Optogenetic Platform to Dynamically Control the Stiffness of Collagen Hydrogels.

Erik Hopkins, Eric Valois, Alanna Stull, Kristy Le, Angela A Pitenis, Maxwell Z Wilson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in ACS biomaterials science & engineering, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Mechano-Organ-on-Chip for Cancer Research.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Erik HopkinsDepartment of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
Eric ValoisDepartment of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-6824-2933
Alanna StullDepartment of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
Kristy LeDepartment of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
Angela A PitenisMaterials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.
Maxwell Z WilsonDepartment of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-2806-1919

Funding

MARC at the University of California Santa BarbaraT34GM136466 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA · PI Arica Ayalah Lubin, Joel H. Rothman · 2020 to 2026
$2.7M
NIGMS NIH HHS T34 GM136466
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The extracellular matrix (ECM) comprises a meshwork of biomacromolecules whose composition, architecture, and macroscopic properties, such as mechanics, instruct cell fate decisions during development and disease progression. Current methods implemented in mechanotransduction studies either fail to capture real-time mechanical dynamics or utilize synthetic polymers that lack the fibrillar nature of their natural counterparts. Here we present an optogenetic-inspired tool to construct light-responsive ECM mimetic hydrogels comprised exclusively of natural ECM proteins. Optogenetic tools offer seconds temporal resolution and submicron spatial resolution, permitting researchers to probe cell signaling dynamics with unprecedented precision. Here we demonstrated our approach of using SNAP-tag and its thiol-targeted substrate, benzylguanine-maleimide, to covalently attach blue-light-responsive proteins to collagen hydrogels. The resulting material (OptoGel), in addition to encompassing the native biological activity of collagen, stiffens upon exposure to blue light and softens in the dark. Optogels have immediate use in dissecting the cellular response to acute mechanical inputs and may also have applications in next-generation biointerfacing prosthetics.

Indexed as

HydrogelsMechanotransduction, CellularCollagenExtracellular MatrixOptogeneticsCollagenHydrogels“click” chemistrycollagen functionalizationdynamic ECMECM-mimetic substrateoptogenetics

Identifiers

PMID33382239
PMCPMC8544164

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.