Effect of Collagen Hydrogel Dimensionality on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Biology
The hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are responsible for the process by which the body’s full complements of blood and immune cells are generated. They are commonly found in a quiescent state in the bone marrow niche, but they are found in reduced numbers and lose the ability to self-renew as the subject gets older. It has been proven that a change in the cytoskeleton of normal cells influences their proliferation, differentiation, and migration. Collagen hydrogels have been used to enhance cell attachment, proliferation, to promote expression of cell-specific morphology and function and to resemble a 3D tissue microenvironment. In the present work, collagen hydrogels with different stiffnesses and dimensionalities (2D vs. 3D) will be prepared to resemble the bone marrow niche in which the HSPCs are found. The work seeks to obtain information of how the stiffness of the hydrogels affectes the cytoskeleton of the HSPCs and if this alteration will give cues to cells to remain quiescent, self-renew or differentiate. It was founded that collagen hydrogel with a concentration of 1.45 mg/mL of collagen has a similar stiffness as the vascular tissue of the bone marrow.