Dynamic biomaterials based on a photodegradable 2‐nitrobenzyl group are useful not only for spatiotemporally resolving cellular activities, but also for various biomedical applications. Even though there is accumulating evidence of the substituent effect of the benzyl position on the photosensitivity of the 2‐nitrobenzyl compounds at a small‐molecule level, most of the previous dynamic biomaterials employ conventional 2‐nitrobenzyl derivatives with methyl or no substituent. We herein developed a photoresponsive biomaterial bearing a 2‐nitrobenzyl derivative with a bulky substituent at the benzyl position. As a proof‐of‐concept, a dynamic cell culture platform based on the tert‐butyl derivative was prepared, which showed approximately a five‐fold faster rate than that based on the methyl derivatives in terms of protein adsorption and cell adhesion. More importantly, the UV energy needed for the activation of the methyl‐type materials induced the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), whereas no ROS production was observed with the energy needed for the tert‐butyl derivative. These results demonstrate the advantages of dynamic biomaterials based on the tert‐butyl‐type nitrobenzyl derivative.
The Front Cover illustrates rapid response and minimized toxicity with a new photocleavable 2‐nitrobenzyl derivative in dynamic cell patterning applications. More information can be found in the Communication by S. Yamamoto et al. on page 786 in Issue 9, 2018 (DOI: 10.1002/cptc.201800087).
The front cover artwork is provided by the group of Prof. Jun Nakanishi at the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (WPI‐MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS). The image shows photo‐induced cell migration behavior on a dynamic cell culture platform based on 2‐nitrobenzyl ester with different benzyl substituents. Read the full text of the Communication athttps://doi.org/10.1002/cptc.201800087.
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