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Updated: May 17, 2026
Control of Cell Adhesion using Hydrogel Patterning Techniques for Applications in Traction Force Microscopy
Published on: January 29, 2022
High resolution interferometry as a tool for characterization of swelling of weakly charged hydrogels subjected to
Ming Gao1, Kamila Gawel, Bjørn Torger Stokke
1Biophysics and Medical Technology, Department of Physics, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
Abstract:
A high resolution interferometric technique was used to determine swelling behavior of weakly charged polyacrylamide hydrogels in the presence of oppositely charged surfactants and subsequent exposure to cyclodextrins. Hydrogels of copolymerized acrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (0.22, 0.44, 0.88 mol%) crosslinked with bisacrylamide (3, 6, 12 mol%) were employed. The equilibrium swelling and swelling kinetics of the hydrogels were determined with 2nm resolution of the optical length and sampled at approximately 1 Hz. These properties were determined for the hydrogels exposed to cationic surfactants dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) at concentrations from 10(-7) up to 2×10(-3)M. The distribution of surfactant within one AAM-co-AMPSA hydrogel equilibrated in CTAB/perylene solution was investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Hydrogels equilibrated at selected surfactant concentrations were subsequently exposed to cyclodextrins (α-CD, β-CD, methyl-β-CD and γ-CD) forming inclusion complexes with the surfactants. The results show different types of behavior for the two surfactants used, arising from the difference in the length of surfactant hydrophobic tail. The changes in the surfactant induced swelling of the hydrogels are suggested to arise from the net effect of electrostatic screening of sulfonic acid-amide group interactions and surfactant micellization. Hydrogels with the largest charge density and the lowest crosslink density yielded the most pronounced changes in swelling properties on exposure to DTAB or CTAB. The hydrogels displayed swelling kinetics on stepwise changes in surfactant concentrations that depended on the surfactant concentration range. The high resolution monitoring of hydrogel swelling associated with supramolecular complex formation in three-component systems hydrogel-amphiphilic molecule-cyclodextrin provides more details on the swelling behavior than previously disclosed.
