Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:32:56.661Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Macro- and Micro-Scale Probing of the Mechanical Properties of DNA-Crosslinked Gels Using Embedded Inclusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2011

David C. Lin ,
Bernard Yurke ,
David I. Shreiber ,
Uday Chippada ,
Xue Jiang ,
George P. Watson  and
Noshir A. Langrana
David C. Lin
Affiliation:
[email protected], Rutgers University, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, United States
Bernard Yurke
Affiliation:
[email protected], Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, United States
David I. Shreiber
Affiliation:
[email protected], Rutgers University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, United States
Uday Chippada
Affiliation:
[email protected], Rutgers University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, United States
Xue Jiang
Affiliation:
[email protected], Rutgers University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, United States
George P. Watson
Affiliation:
[email protected], Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, United States
Noshir A. Langrana
Affiliation:
[email protected], Rutgers University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, United States
Get access

Abstract

Mechanical properties of a class of self-assembling hydrogels based on DNA hybridization were studied using rigid, embedded inclusions. Because inclusions can be deflected without direct contact with a manipulator (e.g., magnet) once they are embedded within the subject material, the measurement technique is well suited for monitoring instantaneous and time-varying changes in the mechanical properties of active materials as they respond to external stimuli. In gels crosslinked with complementary strands of oligonucleotides, hybridization chemistry and strand displacement mechanisms allow reversible assembly, shape change, and large changes in compliance through the application of particular strands of DNA. In earlier work using large (diameter ∼0.8 mm) magnetic beads, the scaling behavior of the global elastic modulus with crosslink density was determined. More recently, it was shown that a threefold increase in stiffness was possible by generating prestress in the DNA-crosslinked gel network. Currently, the gels are functionalized to support cell attachment and embedded with micro-fabricated nickel bars. Through the measurement of local elastic and shear moduli as well as Poisson’s ratios, cell-substrate interactions can be used as a means of evaluating the potential of DNA-crosslinked gels as active cellular engineering substrates and tissue engineering scaffolds.

Keywords

elastic propertiespolymerbiomimetic (assembly)
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 897: Symposium J – Biomemetic Polymers and Gels , 2005 , 0897-J02-02
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Pelham, R. J. Jr. and Wang, Y.. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 94, 13661 (1997).Google Scholar
2. Wang, H. B., Dembo, M. and Wang, Y. L.. Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 279, C1345 (2000).Google Scholar
3. Beningo, K. A. and Wang, Y. L.. J. Cell Sci. 115, 849 (2002).Google Scholar
4. Wong, J. Y., Velasco, A., Rajagopalan, P. and Pham, Q.. Langmuir 19, 1908 (2003).Google Scholar
5. Engler, A., Bacakova, L., Newman, C., Hategan, A., Griffin, M. and Discher, D.. Biophys. J. 86, 617 (2004).Google Scholar
6. Semler, E. J., Lancin, P. A., Dasgupta, A. and Moghe, P. V.. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 89, 296 (2004).Google Scholar
7. Flanagan, L. A., Ju, Y., Marg, B., Osterfield, M. and Janmey, P. A.. Neuroreport 13, 2411 (2002).Google Scholar
8. Horkay, F. and Zrinyi, M.. Macromolecules 15, 1306 (1982).Google Scholar
9. Radmacher, M., Fritz, M. and Hansma, P. K.. Biophys. J. 69, 264 (1995).Google Scholar
10. Nagahara, S. and Matsuda, T.. Polym. Gels Networks 4, 111 (1996).Google Scholar
11. Lin, D. C., Yurke, B. and Langrana, N. A.. J. Biomech. Eng. 126, 104 (2004).Google Scholar
12. Lin, D. C., Yurke, B. and Langrana, N. A.. J. Mat. Res. 20, 1456 (2005).Google Scholar
13. Lin, D. C., Yurke, B. and Langrana, N. A.. J. Biomech. Eng. 127, 571 (2005).Google Scholar
14. Lur'e, A. I.. Mekhanika Tverdogo Tela 2, 80 (1967).Google Scholar
15. Amblard, F., Yurke, B., Pargellis, A. and Leibler, S.. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 67, 818 (1996).Google Scholar