The mechanical properties of the extracellular environment govern key cellular decision-making processes such as proliferation, differentiation, or migration. [1] Thus, analyzing how cells gauge and interact with their mechanical environment is critical not only for understanding physiological and pathological processes but also for engineering cell and tissue growth and differentiation in regenerative medicine. [2] Although studies using passive elastic or viscoelastic materials have revealed valuable information about cell-matrix interactions, matrices with adjustable mechanical properties more closely reflect the dynamic environments many cells are exposed to in a living organism. [3] In order to recapitulate these dynamic environments, several materials have been developed, which enable the Interrogation and control of cellular fate and function using optogenetics is providing revolutionary insights into biology. Optogenetic control of cells is achieved by coupling genetically encoded photoreceptors to cellular effectors and enables unprecedented spatiotemporal control of signaling processes. Here, a fast and reversibly switchable photoreceptor is used to tune the mechanical properties of polymer materials in a fully reversible, wavelengthspecific, and dose-and space-controlled manner. By integrating engineered cyanobacterial phytochrome 1 into a poly(ethylene glycol) matrix, hydrogel materials responsive to light in the cell-compatible red/far-red spectrum are synthesized. These materials are applied to study in human mesenchymal stem cells how different mechanosignaling pathways respond to changing mechanical environments and to control the migration of primary immune cells in 3D. This optogenetics-inspired matrix allows fundamental questions of how cells react to dynamic mechanical environments to be addressed. Further, remote control of such matrices can create new opportunities for tissue engineering or provide a basis for optically stimulated drug depots.
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