Cell migration plays an essential role in many physiological processes, such as embryonic development, wound healing, as well as tumorigenesis. During physiological processes, cell migration is guided by various gradient stimuli, so the creation of gradient materials might be an effective way to modulate directed cell migration which is of paramount in tissue regeneration and repair.

Thus, in our group, we are focus on the designing gradient materials and elucidating their ability to control the cell directional migration.

The materials properties, e.g. the mechanical properties, surface chemistry and topography, could dominate cell responses such as adhesion, proliferation, migration and differentiation. Due to the widely study and application of stem cells in the tissue regeneration, it would be very important to study the influence of the material properties on the cell differentiations. In our lab, we firstly create materials with defined bulk and surface properties to elucidate their role in cell differentiation. Then we would like to design gradient materials based on above obtained results which could direct stem cells differentiate to different cells, shielding light on the regeneration of complicate tissues and organs with multiple types of cells.