Harnessing Matrix Stiffness to Engineer a Bone Marrow Niche for Hematopoietic Stem Cell Rejuvenation

Researchers showed that matrix stiffness fine-tunes HSC niche factor expression by bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). Increased stiffness activates Yap/Taz signaling to promote BMSC expansion upon 2D culture, which was largely reversed by 3D culture in soft gelatin methacrylate hydrogels.