Dataset Information

Mechanochemical Adhesion and Plasticity in Multifiber Hydrogel Networks.

ABSTRACT: The extracellular matrix (ECM) has force-responsive (i.e., mechanochemical) properties that enable adaptation to mechanical loading through changes in fibrous network structure and interfiber bonding. Imparting such properties into synthetic fibrous materials will allow reinforcement under mechanical load, the potential for material self-adhesion, and the general mimicking of ECM. Multifiber hydrogel networks are developed through the electrospinning of multiple fibrous hydrogel populations, where fibers contain complementary chemical moieties (e.g., aldehyde and hydrazide groups) that form covalent bonds within minutes when brought into contact under mechanical load. These fiber interactions lead to microscale anisotropy, as well as increased material stiffness and plastic deformation. Macroscale structures (e.g., tubes and layered scaffolds) are fabricated from these materials through interfiber bonding and adhesion when placed into contact while maintaining a microscale fibrous architecture. The design principles for engineering plasticity described can be applied to numerous material systems to introduce unique properties, from textiles to biomedical applications.

SUBMITTER: Davidson MD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7042082 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Mechanochemical Adhesion and Plasticity in Multifiber Hydrogel Networks.

Davidson Matthew D MD Ban Ehsan E Schoonen Anna C M ACM Lee Mu-Huan MH D'Este Matteo M Shenoy Vivek B VB Burdick Jason A JA

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 20191218 8

The extracellular matrix (ECM) has force-responsive (i.e., mechanochemical) properties that enable adaptation to mechanical loading through changes in fibrous network structure and interfiber bonding. Imparting such properties into synthetic fibrous materials will allow reinforcement under mechanical load, the potential for material self-adhesion, and the general mimicking of ECM. Multifiber hydrogel networks are developed through the electrospinning of multiple fibrous hydrogel populations, whe ...[more]

PMID: 31851400

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Project description:Active matter systems, and in particular the cell cytoskeleton, exhibit complex mechanochemical dynamics that are still not well understood. While prior computational models of cytoskeletal dynamics have lead to many conceptual insights, an important niche still needs to be filled with a high-resolution structural modeling framework, which includes a minimally-complete set of cytoskeletal chemistries, stochastically treats reaction and diffusion processes in three spatial dimensions, accurately and efficiently describes mechanical deformations of the filamentous network under stresses generated by molecular motors, and deeply couples mechanics and chemistry at high spatial resolution. To address this need, we propose a novel reactive coarse-grained force field, as well as a publicly available software package, named the Mechanochemical Dynamics of Active Networks (MEDYAN), for simulating active network evolution and dynamics (available at www.medyan.org). This model can be used to study the non-linear, far from equilibrium processes in active matter systems, in particular, comprised of interacting semi-flexible polymers embedded in a solution with complex reaction-diffusion processes. In this work, we applied MEDYAN to investigate a contractile actomyosin network consisting of actin filaments, alpha-actinin cross-linking proteins, and non-muscle myosin IIA mini-filaments. We found that these systems undergo a switch-like transition in simulations from a random network to ordered, bundled structures when cross-linker concentration is increased above a threshold value, inducing contraction driven by myosin II mini-filaments. Our simulations also show how myosin II mini-filaments, in tandem with cross-linkers, can produce a range of actin filament polarity distributions and alignment, which is crucially dependent on the rate of actin filament turnover and the actin filament's resulting super-diffusive behavior in the actomyosin-cross-linker system. We discuss the biological implications of these findings for the arc formation in lamellipodium-to-lamellum architectural remodeling. Lastly, our simulations produce force-dependent accumulation of myosin II, which is thought to be responsible for their mechanosensation ability, also spontaneously generating myosin II concentration gradients in the solution phase of the simulation volume.

Dataset Information

Mechanochemical Adhesion and Plasticity in Multifiber Hydrogel Networks.

Publications

Mechanochemical Adhesion and Plasticity in Multifiber Hydrogel Networks.

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