Response to substrate elasticity, dependent on mechanical properties of cells, differs for lung fibroblast derived from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and the healthy ones. These altered interactions might potentially act as a ‘biomarker’ for easy and reliable IPF diagnosis. In this work, systematic studies on the effect of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate elasticity, tuned stepwise from 600 kPa to 1.5 MPa on the growth of IPF–derived (LL97A) and healthy (LL24) lung fibroblasts were reported. Additionally, impact of substrate chemistry on both cell lines was studied for fibroblasts cultured on glass substrates modified with three organosilanes – 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES), 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTES) and 3-glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GOPS), with different end groups. Finally, the effect of the simultaneous modification of mechanical and chemical properties on the cellular behavior was studied for fibroblast cultured on PDMS substrates covered with silanes. The growth of cells was traced using fluorescence microscopy and analyzed quantitatively by nucleus-cytoplasm ratio, indicating strong, cell-dependent impact of substrate elasticity dominating over effect of chemical modification.

对底物弹性的反应取决于细胞的机械特性，对于源自特发性肺纤维化 (IPF) 的肺成纤维细胞和健康的肺成纤维细胞是不同的。这些改变的相互作用可能充当“生物标志物”，用于简单可靠的 IPF 诊断。在这项工作中，系统研究了聚二甲基硅氧烷 (PDMS) 基质弹性，从 600 kPa 逐步调整到 1.5 MPa，对 IPF 衍生的 (LL97A) 和健康 (LL24) 肺成纤维细胞的生长的影响。此外，还研究了在玻璃基质上培养的成纤维细胞的基质化学对两种细胞系的影响，这些基质用三种有机硅烷 - 3-氨基丙基三乙氧基硅烷 (APTES)、3-巯基丙基三乙氧基硅烷 (MPTES) 和 3-缩水甘油氧基丙基三甲氧基硅烷 (GOPS) 修饰，具有不同的端基。最后，针对在硅烷覆盖的 PDMS 基质上培养的成纤维细胞，研究了机械和化学性质的同时改变对细胞行为的影响。使用荧光显微镜追踪细胞的生长，并通过细胞核-细胞质比进行定量分析，表明底物弹性对化学修饰的影响具有强烈的细胞依赖性影响。