Development of photoresponsive dynamic materials and their applications to cell migration study

Abstract

In this article, I will introduce our original photoresponsive materials and their applications to cell migration studies. The first one is a photoresponsive substrate for dynamic cell patterning. We investigated the influence of gravity vector on collective cell migration by inducing cell migration in the inverted state. The second one is an azobenzene-bearing hydrogel, whose stiffness changes by irradiation of UV/VIS light. We found the breast cancer cells exhibited transient epithelial-mesenchymal transition responses against sudden stiffening of the substrates.