SUMMARYPrimary cilia are sensory organelles that protrude from the cell membrane. Defects in the primary cilium cause ciliopathy disorders, with retinal degeneration as a prominent phenotype. Here, we demonstrate that the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), essential for photoreceptor development and function, requires a functional primary cilium for complete maturation and that RPE maturation defects in ciliopathies precede photoreceptor degeneration. Pharmacologically enhanced ciliogenesis in wild-type induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)-RPE leads to fully mature and functional cells. In contrast, ciliopathy patient-derived iPSC-RPE and iPSC-RPE with a knockdown of ciliary-trafficking protein remain immature, with defective apical processes, reduced functionality, and reduced adult-specific gene expression. Proteins of the primary cilium regulate RPE maturation by simultaneously suppressing canonical WNT and activating PKCδ pathways. A similar cilium-dependent maturation pathway exists in lung epithelium. Our results provide insights into ciliopathy-induced retinal degeneration, demonstrate a developmental role for primary cilia in epithelial maturation, and provide a method to mature iPSC epithelial cells for clinical applications.

Healing articular cartilage remains a significant clinical challenge because of its limited self-healing capacity. While delivery of autologous chondrocytes to cartilage defects has received growing interest, combining cell-based therapies with scaffolds that capture aspects of native tissue and promote cell-mediated remodeling could improve outcomes. Currently, scaffold-based therapies with encapsulated chondrocytes permit matrix production; however, resorption of the scaffold does not match the rate of production by cells leading to generally low ECM outputs. Here, a PEG norbornene hydrogel was functionalized with thiolated TGF-β1 and crosslinked by an MMP-degradable peptide. Chondrocytes were co-encapsulated with a smaller population of MSCs, with the goal of stimulating matrix production and increasing bulk mechanical properties of the scaffold. Interestingly, the co-encapsulated cells cleaved the MMP-degradable target sequence more readily than either cell population alone. Relative to non-degradable gels, cellularly-degraded materials showed significantly increased GAG and collagen deposition over just 14 days of culture, while maintaining high levels of viability and producing a more diffuse matrix. These results indicate the potential of an enzymatically-degradable, peptide-functionalized PEG hydrogel to locally influence and promote cartilage matrix production over a short period. Scaffolds that permit cell-mediated remodeling may be useful in designing treatment options for cartilage tissue engineering applications.

There is ag rowing interest in materials that can dynamically change their properties in the presence of cells to study mechanobiology.H erein, we exploit the 365 nm light mediated [4+ +4] photodimerization of anthracene groups to develop cytocompatible PEG-based hydrogels with tailorable initial moduli that can be further stiffened. Ah ydrogel formulation that can stiffen from 10 to 50 kPa, corresponding to the stiffness of ahealthy and fibrotic heart, respectively,was prepared. This system was used to monitor the stiffnessdependent localization of NFAT,adownstream target of intracellular calcium signaling using ar eporter in live cardiac fibroblasts (CFbs). NFAT translocates to the nucleus of CFbs on stiffening hydrogels within 6h,w hereas it remains cytoplasmic when the CFbs are cultured on either 10 or 50 kPa static hydrogels.T his finding demonstrates howd ynamic changes in the mechanical properties of am aterial can reveal the kinetics of mechanoresponsive cell signaling pathwaysthat may otherwise be missed in cells cultured on static substrates.

Muscle cells sense the mechanical properties of their microenvironment, and these properties can change in response to injury or disease. Hydrogels with dynamic material properties can be used to study the effect of such varying mechanical signals. Here, we report the ability of azadibenzocyclooctyne to undergo a cytocompatible, photoinitiated crosslinking reaction. This reaction is exploited as a strategy for on-demand stiffening of three-dimensional cell scaffolds formed through an initial strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition. Myoblasts encapsulated in these networks respond to increased matrix stiffness through decreased cell spreading and nuclear localization of Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP). However, when the photocrosslinking reaction is delayed to allow cell spreading, elongated myoblasts display increased YAP nuclear localization.

The skeletal muscle microenvironment transiently remodels and stiffens after exercise and injury, as muscle ages, and in myopathic muscle; however, how these changes in stiffness affect resident muscle stem cells (MuSCs) remains understudied. Following muscle injury, muscle stiffness remained elevated after morphological regeneration was complete, accompanied by activated and proliferative MuSCs. To isolate the role of stiffness on MuSC behavior and determine the underlying mechanotransduction pathways, we cultured MuSCs on strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition hydrogels capable of in situ stiffening by secondary photocrosslinking of excess cyclooctynes. Using pre- to post-injury stiffness hydrogels, we found that elevated stiffness enhances migration and MuSC proliferation by localizing yes-associated protein 1 (YAP) and WW domain–containing transcription regulator 1 (WWTR1; TAZ) to the nucleus. Ablating YAP and TAZ in vivo promotes MuSC quiescence in postinjury muscle and prevents myofiber hypertrophy, demonstrating that persistent exposure to elevated stiffness activates mechanotransduction signaling maintaining activated and proliferating MuSCs.