Soft Matter Blog

The Soft Matter themed issue on Proteins, cells, and tissues in patterned environments is now online! Guest Editors Ulrich Schwarz (University of Heidelberg), Celeste Nelson (Princeton University) and Pascal Silberzan (Institut Curie) introduce the issue in their Editorial.

Over the last two decades, the role of spatial coordination has increasingly moved into the focus of researchers working on biological systems. Using tools from materials science, it has been revealed that the amazing capacity of biological systems to organize themselves strongly depends on the way the environment is spatially structured. For this themed issue, researchers from the biophysics, biophysical chemistry, cell biology and bioengineering communities were invited to contribute studies based on spatially controlled environments which can be used as modulators, control elements or sensors for the self-organized assembly of proteins, cells and tissue. Below are just some of the excellent papers we received:

On the cover:

Alignment of nematic and bundled semiflexible polymers in cell-sized confinement José Alvarado, Bela M. Mulder and Gijsje H. Koenderink  

Communications:

Co- and distinct existence of Tris-NTA and biotin functionalities on individual and adjacent micropatterned surfaces generated by photo-destruction Atanu Biswas, Abhijit Saha, Dhruba Ghosh, Batakrishna Jana and Surajit Ghosh  

Papers:

Three-dimensional patterning of multiple cell populations through orthogonal genetic control of cell motility Joanna L. MacKay, Anshum Sood and Sanjay Kumar  

Oscillations of Min-proteins in micropatterned environments: a three-dimensional particle-based stochastic simulation approach Max Hoffmann and Ulrich S. Schwarz  

Cellular self-organization on micro-structured surfaces Peter J. F. Röttgermann, Alicia Piera Alberola and Joachim O. Rädler 

Optimal shapes and stresses of adherent cells on patterned substrates Shiladitya Banerjee, Rastko Sknepnek and M. Cristina Marchetti  

Intracellular stresses in patterned cell assemblies Michel Moussus, Christelle der Loughian, David Fuard, Marie Courçon, Danielle Gulino-Debrac, Hélène Delanoë-Ayari and Alice Nicolas  

Hyperswarming adaptations in a bacterium improve collective motility without enhancing single cell motility Maxime Deforet, Dave van Ditmarsch, Carlos Carmona-Fontaine and Joao B. Xavier  

Find the full issue here!

Reconfigurable soft matter systems are distinguished by their remarkable ability to sense and respond to external stimuli or changes in the environment by readjusting their morphology and/or functionality. Published last week, the Soft Matter themed issue on Reconfigurable Soft Matter highlights the new advances in designing and creating such materials. Guest Editors Anna Balazs and Joanna Aizenberg introduce the issue in their Editorial.

Here is a small sample of the excellent review, communication and full articles contained within the themed issue:

• Autonomic composite hydrogels by reactive printing: materials and oscillatory response R. C. Kramb, P. R. Buskohl, C. Slone, M. L. Smith and R. A. Vaia

• Reconfigurable and actuating structures from soft materials Ren Geryak and Vladimir V. Tsukruk
• Bioinspired materials that self-shape through programmed microstructures  André R. Studart and Randall M. Erb  (Open access)

• Electro-actuated hydrogel walkers with dual responsive legs Daniel Morales, Etienne Palleau, Michael D. Dickey and Orlin D. Velev
• Microgel film dynamics modulate cell adhesion behavior  Shalini Saxena, Mark W. Spears Jr, Hiroaki Yoshida, Jeffrey C. Gaulding, Andrés J. García and L. Andrew Lyon
• Modeling polymer grafted nanoparticle networks reinforced by high-strength chains  Matthew J. Hamer, Balaji V. S. Iyer, Victor V. Yashin, Tomasz Kowalewski, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Anna C. Balazs
• Autonomous viscosity oscillation via metallo-supramolecular terpyridine chemistry of branched poly(ethylene glycol) driven by the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction Takeshi Ueki, Yumi Takasaki, Kaori Bundo, Tomonaga Ueno, Takamasa Sakai, Yuki Akagi and Ryo Yoshida