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Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology

Living animal cells are strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of their environment. To model physiological conditions ultrasoft cell culture substrates, in some instances with elasticity (Young's modulus) of only 1 kPa, are mandatory. Due to their long shelf life PDMS-based elastomer...

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Autores principales: Heinrichs, Viktor, Dieluweit, Sabine, Stellbrink, Jörg, Pyckhout-Hintzen, Wim, Hersch, Nils, Richter, Dieter, Merkel, Rudolf
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5889068/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29624610
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195180
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author Heinrichs, Viktor
Dieluweit, Sabine
Stellbrink, Jörg
Pyckhout-Hintzen, Wim
Hersch, Nils
Richter, Dieter
Merkel, Rudolf
author_facet Heinrichs, Viktor
Dieluweit, Sabine
Stellbrink, Jörg
Pyckhout-Hintzen, Wim
Hersch, Nils
Richter, Dieter
Merkel, Rudolf
author_sort Heinrichs, Viktor
collection PubMed
description Living animal cells are strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of their environment. To model physiological conditions ultrasoft cell culture substrates, in some instances with elasticity (Young's modulus) of only 1 kPa, are mandatory. Due to their long shelf life PDMS-based elastomers are a popular choice. However, uncertainty about additives in commercial formulations and difficulties to reach very soft materials limit their use. Here, we produced silicone elastomers from few, chemically defined and commercially available substances. Elastomers exhibited elasticities in the range from 1 kPa to 55 kPa. In detail, a high molecular weight (155 kg/mol), vinyl-terminated linear silicone was crosslinked with a multifunctional (f = 51) crosslinker (a copolymer of dimethyl siloxane and hydrosilane) by a platinum catalyst. The following different strategies towards ultrasoft materials were explored: sparse crosslinking, swelling with inert silicone polymers, and, finally, deliberate introduction of dangling ends into the network (inhibition). Rheological experiments with very low frequencies led to precise viscoelastic characterizations. All strategies enabled tuning of stiffness with the lowest stiffness of ~1 kPa reached by inhibition. This system was also most practical to use. Biocompatibility of materials was tested using primary cortical neurons from rats. Even after several days of cultivation no adverse effects were found.
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spelling pubmed-58890682018-04-20 Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology Heinrichs, Viktor Dieluweit, Sabine Stellbrink, Jörg Pyckhout-Hintzen, Wim Hersch, Nils Richter, Dieter Merkel, Rudolf PLoS One Research Article Living animal cells are strongly influenced by the mechanical properties of their environment. To model physiological conditions ultrasoft cell culture substrates, in some instances with elasticity (Young's modulus) of only 1 kPa, are mandatory. Due to their long shelf life PDMS-based elastomers are a popular choice. However, uncertainty about additives in commercial formulations and difficulties to reach very soft materials limit their use. Here, we produced silicone elastomers from few, chemically defined and commercially available substances. Elastomers exhibited elasticities in the range from 1 kPa to 55 kPa. In detail, a high molecular weight (155 kg/mol), vinyl-terminated linear silicone was crosslinked with a multifunctional (f = 51) crosslinker (a copolymer of dimethyl siloxane and hydrosilane) by a platinum catalyst. The following different strategies towards ultrasoft materials were explored: sparse crosslinking, swelling with inert silicone polymers, and, finally, deliberate introduction of dangling ends into the network (inhibition). Rheological experiments with very low frequencies led to precise viscoelastic characterizations. All strategies enabled tuning of stiffness with the lowest stiffness of ~1 kPa reached by inhibition. This system was also most practical to use. Biocompatibility of materials was tested using primary cortical neurons from rats. Even after several days of cultivation no adverse effects were found. Public Library of Science 2018-04-06 /pmc/articles/PMC5889068/ /pubmed/29624610 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195180 Text en © 2018 Heinrichs et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Heinrichs, Viktor
Dieluweit, Sabine
Stellbrink, Jörg
Pyckhout-Hintzen, Wim
Hersch, Nils
Richter, Dieter
Merkel, Rudolf
Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title_full Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title_fullStr Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title_full_unstemmed Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title_short Chemically defined, ultrasoft PDMS elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
title_sort chemically defined, ultrasoft pdms elastomers with selectable elasticity for mechanobiology
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5889068/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29624610
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195180
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