Problem: Read the article Nature Materials 12, 458-465 (2013) to answer the following questions.
a) State the biomaterial principle used in this study. In few sentences describe the main purpose and outcome of this study.
b) Explain Figure 1. Why differentiation of MSCs toward adipogenic lineage is unaltered with increasing stiffness of the gel? Explain this result in terms of biomaterial design.
c) Explain Figure 2 and Figure 3. What is/are the main drawback(s) of this system to explain the role of cell-mediated matrix degradation as a regulator for stem cell differentiation?
d) What is the fundamental principle related to delayed cross-linking, as shown in Figure 4?
e) Figure 5 shows change in matrix deformation and differentiation but no change in cell morphology after pharmacological intervention with Y-27632. Why? What is the effect of biomaterial design for this observation?