Receptor clustering control and associated force sensing by surface patterning: when force matters

摘要

Nanostructured and chemically function-alized materials which mimic architectural and mechanical features of natural cell microenvironments hold promise for a better understanding and control of cell physiological processes through molecular and nanoscale interactions. Ultimately, the design of defined scaffolds for tissue engineering based on these material properties will advance regenerative medicine. The clustering of transmembrane receptors into defined nanoscale structures triggers and regulates specific signaling networks with unprecedented precision and is involved in transducing forces between the cell and the matrix. Only few material-based technologies exist today that enable the local control of receptor clustering and are able to measure mechanotransduction-based cellular reactions. Receptor clustering and regulatory ligand-receptor interactions stimulate a variety of biological processes. Herein lies an opportunity for interdisciplinary efforts between the fields of engineering, chemistry and biology to design new materials with the aim of controlling and quantifying nanoscale and molecular interactions at cellular boundaries. These efforts, inspired by the cell microenvironment, have recently led to the creation of nanostructured surfaces for controlling and guiding cell adhesion and function in a predictable manner.