Fig. 4.

For hydrogels of constant stiffness, adhesive ligand concentration controls the attachment and spreading of RDFs in a dose-dependent manner. The maximum concentration of the bound ligand in the hydrogels (x-axis) depends on both the relative ratio of the active ligand and the availability of HA-thiols in gels of 0.8% HA-S and 0.6% PEGDA after 1 day of gelation (∼3.2 mM). For each condition, the average density of adherent cells was normalized to the initial cell seeding density of 5000 RDFs/well and is presented as normalized mean ± SEM for n ≥ 3.