Effects of Univariate Stiffness and Degradation of DNA Hydrogels on the Transcriptomics of Neural Progenitor Cells

Mechanical interactions between cells and extracellular matrix (ECM) are critical for stem cell fate decision. Synthetic models of ECM, such as hydrogels, can be used to precisely manipulate the mechanical properties of the cell niche and investigate how mechanical signals regulate the cell behavior. However, it has long been a great challenge to tune solely the ECM-mimic hydrogels’ mechanical signals since altering the mechanical properties of most materials is usually accompanied by chemical and topological changes. Here, we employ DNA and its enantiomers to prepare a series of hydrogels with univariate stiffness regulation, which enables a precise interpretation of the fate decision of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in a three-dimensional environment. Using single-cell RNA sequencing techniques, Monocle pseudotime trajectory and CellphoneDB analysis, we demonstrate that the stiffness of the hydrogel alone does not influence the differentiation of NPCs, but the degradation of the hydrogel that enhances cell-cell interactions is possibly the main reason. We also find that ECM remodeling facilitates cells to sense mechanical stimuli.