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Abstract
The stereochemistry of polymers has a profound impact on their mechanical properties. While this has been observed in thermoplastics, studies on how stereochemistry affects the bulk properties of swollen networks, such as hydrogels, are limited. Typically, changing the stiffness of a hydrogel is achieved at the cost of changing another parameter, that in turn affects the physical properties of the material and ultimately influences the cellular response. Herein, we report that by manipulating the stereochemistry of a double bond, formed in situ during gelation, materials with diverse mechanical properties but comparable physical properties can be obtained. Click-hydrogels that possess a high % trans content are stiffer than their high % cis analogues by almost a factor of 3. Human mesenchymal stem cells acted as a substrate stiffness cell reporter demonstrating the potential of these platforms to study mechanotransduction without the influence of other external factors.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 25856-25864 |
Journal | Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 49 |
Early online date | 22 Sept 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 22 Sept 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:A.P.D., M.M.P.‐M. and J.C.W. acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 681559. M.M.P.‐M. acknowledges funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska‐Curie grant agreement No 703415. BBSRC are thanked for their award of a DTP CASE studentship to J.E.S. (grant number: BBSRC DTP CASE BB/M011208/1). EPSRC are thanked for a DTP studentship to L.J.M.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
Keywords
- cellular mechanoresponsive behaviour
- click-chemistry
- hydrogels
- stereochemistry
- thiol–yne nucleophilic addition
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Catalysis
- General Chemistry
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