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Updated: Feb 24, 2026
Control of Cell Adhesion using Hydrogel Patterning Techniques for Applications in Traction Force Microscopy
Published on: January 29, 2022
Programming the photoelasticity of hydrogels for label-free mechanosensing by a simultaneous birefringence-stress
Riku Katsuki1, Marc Eisenmann2, Shalika Singh3
1Department of Engineering Science, The Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications (UEC), 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan. taki@pc.uec.ac.jp.
Abstract:
We present a strategy to program hydrogel photoelasticity using rationally designed force-transducing crosslinkers. Enabled by a simultaneous birefringence-stress reader (SiBRe), we show that stress-induced unfolding of flexible linkers can amplify the optical response, establishing a robust, dye-free platform for quantitative mechanosensing.
