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Volume 14
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10.3390/app14031093
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Article

A Methodological Approach for Interpreting and Comparing the Viscoelastic Behaviors of Soft Biological Tissues and Hydrogels at the Cell-Length Scale

by
Marta Tosini
1,2,3,
Torne Tänzer
4,
Simona Villata
2,5,
Désirée Baruffaldi
2,5,
Valentina Monica
6,7,
Barbara Peracino
8,
Luca Primo
6,7,
Francesca Frascella
2,3,5,
Fabrizio Pirri
2,5,
Alberto Audenino
1,2,
Diana Massai
1,2,3 and
Gianpaolo Serino
1,2,3,*
1
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
2
PolitoBIOMedLab, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
3
Centro 3R: Interuniversity Center for the Promotion of the 3Rs Principles in Teaching and Research, Università di Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
4
Mechanical Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
5
Department of Applied Sciences (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy
6
Department of Oncology, University of Torino, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
7
Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, 10060 Candiolo, Italy
8
Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Torino, 10043 Orbassano, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(3), 1093; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031093
Submission received: 18 December 2023 / Revised: 19 January 2024 / Accepted: 22 January 2024 / Published: 27 January 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modelling, Investigating and Engineering Viscoelasticity in Biological Tissues and Hydrogels)
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Abstract

The behavior of a cell is strongly influenced by the physical properties and stimuli in its microenvironment. Furthermore, the activation and modulation of mechanotransduction pathways are involved in tissue development and homeostasis and even pathological processes. Thus, when developing materials aimed at mimicking the extracellular matrixes of healthy or pathological tissues, their mechanical features should be closely considered. In this context, nanoindentation represents a powerful technique for mechanically characterizing biological tissues and hydrogels at the cell-length scale. However, standardized experimental protocols and data analysis techniques are lacking. Here, we proposed a methodological approach based on the nanoindentation technique for quantitatively analyzing and comparing the time-dependent load relaxation responses of soft biological tissues and hydrogels. As this was an explanatory study, stress-relaxation nanoindentation tests were performed on samples of pig and human lung tissues and of a specific gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel to quantify and compare their viscoelastic properties. The proposed method allowed for identifying the characteristic parameters needed for describing the behavior of each sample, permitting us to quantitatively compare their mechanical behaviors. All samples showed load relaxation at a defined indentation depth because of their intrinsic viscoelastic behaviors, and the GelMA samples showed the highest relaxation capabilities. The distribution of the characterization parameters showed that the biological samples presented similar time-dependent responses, while differences were observed in the GelMA samples. Overall, the proposed methodological approach allows for providing key insights into the time-dependent behaviors of soft biological tissues and hydrogels at the cell-length scale in view of supporting tissue engineering and pathophysiological investigations.
Keywords: nanoindentation; viscoelastic characterization; soft tissue biomechanics; constitutive model; mechanotransduction nanoindentation; viscoelastic characterization; soft tissue biomechanics; constitutive model; mechanotransduction

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tosini, M.; Tänzer, T.; Villata, S.; Baruffaldi, D.; Monica, V.; Peracino, B.; Primo, L.; Frascella, F.; Pirri, F.; Audenino, A.; et al. A Methodological Approach for Interpreting and Comparing the Viscoelastic Behaviors of Soft Biological Tissues and Hydrogels at the Cell-Length Scale. Appl. Sci. 2024, 14, 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031093

AMA Style

Tosini M, Tänzer T, Villata S, Baruffaldi D, Monica V, Peracino B, Primo L, Frascella F, Pirri F, Audenino A, et al. A Methodological Approach for Interpreting and Comparing the Viscoelastic Behaviors of Soft Biological Tissues and Hydrogels at the Cell-Length Scale. Applied Sciences. 2024; 14(3):1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031093

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tosini, Marta, Torne Tänzer, Simona Villata, Désirée Baruffaldi, Valentina Monica, Barbara Peracino, Luca Primo, Francesca Frascella, Fabrizio Pirri, Alberto Audenino, and et al. 2024. "A Methodological Approach for Interpreting and Comparing the Viscoelastic Behaviors of Soft Biological Tissues and Hydrogels at the Cell-Length Scale" Applied Sciences 14, no. 3: 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031093

APA Style

Tosini, M., Tänzer, T., Villata, S., Baruffaldi, D., Monica, V., Peracino, B., Primo, L., Frascella, F., Pirri, F., Audenino, A., Massai, D., & Serino, G. (2024). A Methodological Approach for Interpreting and Comparing the Viscoelastic Behaviors of Soft Biological Tissues and Hydrogels at the Cell-Length Scale. Applied Sciences, 14(3), 1093. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14031093

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