Thanks to all our lovely collaborators- with so many different aspects, and parts to get right, this was truly a collaborative and interdisciplinary effort!

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Beyond this, the system holds great potential for studying any situation where matrix stiffness changes, such as in tissue development, fibrosis or cancer.

This hydrogel system allows for safe and reversible control of substrate stiffness using visible light (not UV!). We investigated the dynamics of MSC mechanosensing and discovered that "old" cells are far less able to react to a dynamic environment than "young" cells.

Lots more to dig out of this data- but for MSC fans it provides food for thought on what an MSC really is, while details of the secretomes can help us decide which MSCs may be best suited for different clinical applications.

MSC source also matters: iMSCs were more consistent than tissue-derived MSCs. The “younger” umbilical cord and iMSCs secreted factors that favour proliferation and telomere maintenance, while “older” bone marrow and adipose MSCs were better at matrix secretion.

We found that inflammation triggers a shift from ECM secretion to immunomodulatory proteins, and importantly, iMSCs (from iPS cells) respond just like tissue-derived MSCs—showing that fundamental MSC properties are retained.

careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...

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