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In vitro biophysical study reveals directed migration and alignment of living cells along dynamically shifting wrinkles, indicating active guidance by evolving surface curvature.
Surface wrinkle instabilities in bilayer soft materials underpin a wide range of applications, from tunable optics to metrology and mechanobiology. We present a novel technique for dynamic, reconfigurable wrinkle patterns: exposing a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cylindrical block to infrared laser creates a micrometer-thick, highly cross-linked rigid layer. Subsequent uniaxial compression generates sinusoidal wrinkles oriented perpendicular to the compression direction. Dynamic reconfiguration via a custom rotation device involves wrinkle rotation, fragmentation, and reassociation, exhibiting S-like bending, defect nucleation, propagation, and annihilation. These dynamics are qualitatively captured by the anisotropic Swift-Hohenberg equation. The experimental setup is compatible with upright confocal microscopy, enabling real-time visualization of cellular interactions with evolving wrinkle topography. Living cells attach, migrate, and align/coordinate with traveling waves. This work opens new avenues for investigating cell migration guided by dynamic substrate curvature and introduces a versatile platform for dynamic surface control and studying topological defect physics.
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Cao et al. (2026) studied this question.
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