The biophysical properties of Basal lamina gels depend on the biochemical composition of the gel

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 17;10(2):e0118090. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118090. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

The migration of cells within a three-dimensional extracellular matrix (ECM) depends sensitively on the biochemical and biophysical properties of the matrix. An example for a biological ECM is given by reconstituted basal lamina gels purified from the Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm sarcoma of mice. Here, we compare four different commercial variants of this ECM, which have all been purified according to the same protocol. Nevertheless, in those gels, we detect strong differences in the migration behavior of leukocyte cells as well as in the Brownian motion of nanoparticles. We show that these differences correlate with the mechanical properties and the microarchitecture of the gels which in turn arise from small variations in their biochemical composition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Basement Membrane / chemistry*
  • Basement Membrane / metabolism
  • Biophysical Phenomena*
  • Cell Movement
  • Diffusion
  • Extracellular Matrix / chemistry
  • Extracellular Matrix / metabolism
  • Gels
  • HL-60 Cells
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes / cytology
  • Mice
  • Nanoparticles / metabolism

Substances

  • Gels

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through project B7 “Nanoagents in 3-dimensional biopolymer hydrogels” and project B8 “Controlling Cellular Function by Structured Surfaces: Artificial Angiogenesis” in the framework of SFB 1032 (http://www.dfg.de/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.