1. Academic Validation
  2. Topographic Cues Guiding Cell Polarization via Distinct Cellular Mechanosensing Pathways

Topographic Cues Guiding Cell Polarization via Distinct Cellular Mechanosensing Pathways

  • Small. 2022 Jan;18(2):e2104328. doi: 10.1002/smll.202104328.
Wei Liu 1 Qian Sun 1 Zi-Li Zheng 1 Ya-Ting Gao 1 Guan-Yin Zhu 2 Qiang Wei 1 3 Jia-Zhuang Xu 1 Zhong-Ming Li 1 Chang-Sheng Zhao 1 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials and Engineering, College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
  • 3 College of Biomedical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
Abstract

Cell polarization exists in a variety of tissues to regulate cell behaviors and functions. Space constraint (spatially limiting cell extension) and adhesion induction (guiding adhesome growth) are two main ways to induce cell polarization according to the microenvironment topographies. However, the mechanism of cell polarization induced by these two ways and the downstream effects on cell functions are yet to be understood. Here, space constraint and adhesion induction guiding cell polarization are achieved by substrate groove arrays in micro and nano size, respectively. Although the morphology of polarized cells is similar on both structures, the signaling pathways to induce the cell polarization and the downstream functions are distinctly different. The adhesion induction (nano-groove) leads to the formation of focal adhesions and activates the RhoA/ROCK pathway to enhance the myosin-based intracellular force, while the space constraint (micro-groove) only activates the formation of pseudopodia. The enhanced intracellular force caused by adhesion induction inhibits the chromatin condensation, which promotes the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells. This study presents an overview of cell polarization and mechanosensing at biointerface to aid in the design of novel biomaterials.

Keywords

biointerface; cell polarization; mechanobiology; stem cell; topographical cues.

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