Life-like and dynamic materials
To guide the development of cell-instructive surfaces, detailed insights are needed of how physicochemical materials characteristics influence cell-materials interactions by programming the structural and functional modes of anchored matrix components. To establish matrices with defined anchor dynamics and viscoelasticity, the following questions need to be addressed (i) what is the architecture and composition of anchoring? (ii) what are molecular mechanisms of dynamic anchors controlling cell adhesion? (iii) what are essential components needed to construct life-like cellular microenvironments? (iv) how can we build a functional anisotropic microenvironment?