(1) Title

A Hybrid Hydrogel–Extracellular Matrix Scaffold for Identifying the Biochemical and Mechanical Features of Cardiac Aging

(2) Research Highlights

This study designed a decellularized extracellular matrix–synthetic hydrogel hybrid scaffold that can independently control and investigate two key properties of the extracellular matrix—biochemical ligand presentation and physical stiffness—in the context of cardiac aging. Using primary mouse cardiac fibroblasts, the study successfully identified distinct mechanisms underlying cardiac fibroblast activation, matrix remodeling, and senescence, and found that biochemical signals from young matrix can override the pro-fibrotic physical signals of aged matrix.

(3) Innovation

The core innovation of this study lies in the development of a precisely tunable hybrid scaffold platform that enables the decoupling and independent manipulation of the biochemical composition of the extracellular matrix (derived from young or aged heart tissue) and its physical stiffness (independently mimicking young or aged tissue), thereby clearly defining their respective contributions to driving cardiac cellular aging phenotypes.

(4) Material Development

Materials:

A hybrid scaffold composed of decellularized mouse heart tissue (providing native biochemical matrix components) and a synthetic hydrogel (providing tunable physical stiffness).

Function:

This material platform can independently set the mechanical properties of the scaffold while retaining the native biochemical composition and organization of age-specific heart tissue, thereby precisely mimicking and dissecting the complex changes in the extracellular microenvironment during cardiac aging in vitro.

(5) Perspective

This work provides a powerful research tool that, by decoupling multiple properties of the extracellular matrix, can precisely identify specific extracellular targets driving tissue dysfunction, opening new avenues for understanding aging mechanisms and exploring intervention strategies.

We provide full-process services for custom material design, including innovative scheme design, fabrication, characterization, and in vitro & in vivo validation (cell and animal studies). Our postdoctoral team with multiple high-impact Q1 publications can tackle your challenging research demands. Our scope covers hydrogels, drug delivery systems, nanomaterials, polymers, liposomes, microneedles and more. We support project design, NSFC proposal writing, and high-quality SCI manuscripts for journals such as AFM, AM and other Q1/Q2 journals. Enquiries are welcome

17768014569 (Dr.Gao)

17761925168 (Dr. Zhang)

18013729810 (Dr. Yang)