Extended Preconditioning on Soft Matrices Directs Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell Fate via YAP Transcriptional Activity and Chromatin Organization

Using a soft priming and subsequent stiff culture system based on collagen-modified polydimethylsiloxane substrates, scientists discovered that extended preconditioning on soft matrices led to approximately one-third decrease in cell spreading, two-third decrease in osteogenic markers of hMSCs, and one-thirteenth decrease in the production of mineralized nodules.