Collagen Fiber Architecture Regulates Hypoxic Sarcoma Cell Migration. 2018

Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht

Collagen is prevalent in the microenvironment of many cancer types and has been demonstrated to play an important role during disease progression. We previously showed the importance of hypoxic gradients in sarcoma cell migration. Here, we utilized an oxygen gradient collagen gel platform to determine the impact of collagen fiber density and hypoxic gradient on sarcoma cell migration. The oxygen gradient was created by regulating the oxygen diffusion coefficient along with the cellular oxygen consumption rate. Collagen fiber density in the hydrogels is modified by changing the preincubation period of the collagen gel solution at 4 °C, controlling fiber density independently of collagen concentration and oxygen tension. High fiber density gels have wider and longer fibers but a similar microscale pore size with a larger nanoscale pore size and quicker stress relaxation time, compared to the low fiber density gel. Both gels have the same Young's modulus. We analyzed responses of sarcoma cells encapsulated in the different hydrogels for 3 days. In the nonhypoxic low fiber density constructs, sarcoma cells exhibit a larger aspect ratio, and the matrix has less fiber alignment compared to the nonhypoxic high fiber density constructs. Interestingly, we found a minimal effect of fiber density on cell migration and the ability of the cells to degrade the matrix in nonhypoxic constructs. When compared with hypoxic constructs, we observed the opposite trend, where cells in low fiber density constructs exhibit a lower aspect ratio and the matrix has more aligned fibers compared to hypoxic high fiber density constructs. Sarcoma cells encapsulated in high fiber density hypoxic gels migrated faster and degraded the matrix more rapidly compared to the low fiber density hypoxic constructs. Overall, we show that hypoxic cell migration and matrix degradation are enhanced in high fiber density gels, while hypoxic matrix alignment is prominent in low fiber density gels. Our results suggest that the differences in cellular responses under hypoxic gradients are due to the hydrogel architecture including fiber density, size (length and width), and stress relaxation.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries

Related Publications

Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
September 2014, Carcinogenesis,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
November 2023, Advanced healthcare materials,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
January 1994, ASAIO journal (American Society for Artificial Internal Organs : 1992),
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
February 2010, The Journal of biological chemistry,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
January 2018, Molecular biology of the cell,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
July 1999, Journal of cell science,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
August 2010, Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.),
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
February 1997, Journal of biomechanical engineering,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
February 2019, Biotechnic & histochemistry : official publication of the Biological Stain Commission,
Daniel M Lewis, and Vitor Tang, and Nupur Jain, and Ariel Isser, and Zhiyong Xia, and Sharon Gerecht
April 2019, Biomaterials,
Copied contents to your clipboard!