Table 2.

Summary of strategies for controlling cell migration and for performing mechanobiology studies reviewed in this article.

Phototunable Property	Material	Phototriggered effect	Observed Properties and Effects	Ref
Substrate topography	Azobenzene containing liquid crystal networks	Photoisomerization and mass migration	Nanoroughness increase upon illumination leading to decreased cell speed	[85]
Substrate topography	Azobenzene-based molecular glass surface coated with PDMS layer	Photoisomerization and mass migration	Grating photo-inscription and photo-erasure that control cell orientation and migration	[86]
Stiffness	Thermo responsive copolymer hydrogel and gold nanorods	Photothermal	Optomechanical stimulation increases cell motility	[87]
Stiffness	Four-armed PEG-Dronpa145N hydrogel	Photoisomerization	Real-time modulation of substrate stiffness and collective cell migration	[88]
Stiffness	HA modified with methacrylate and coumarin moieties	Photocleavage	Increased endothelial cells migration into the softer hydrogels	[93]
Stiffness	Azobenzene crosslinker containing hydrogel	Photoisomerization	In situ tuning of substrate stiffness affecting MSCs adhesion and morphology	[95]
Stiffness	Azadibenzocyclooctyne containing click hydrogel	Photocrosslinking	Encapsulation of myoblast in 3D hydrogels and change in cellular localization of mechanoregulatory protein	[96]
Stiffness	Azobenzene-bearing hydrogel	Photoisomerization and phase transition	Reversible softening-stiffening affecting gene expression levels of E-cadherin	[97]
Stiffness and color	PEG diacrylate hydrogel containing coumarin and mono-dispersed silica NPs	Dimerization and cleavage	In situ manipulation of substrate stiffness and monitoring. Applicable in microfluidics and cell culture microarrays	[98]
Stiffness	Patterned thermoresponsive hydrogel containing gold nanorods	Photothermal	Mechanical actuation induces changes in cell migration, localization of mechanosensory protein and secretion and alignment of FN	[99]
Stiffness	Hydrogels containing crosslinkers with stimuli-dependent intramolecular association	Reversible association-dissociation	Myoblasts transdifferentiation under cyclic mechanical stimulation	[100]