Figure 2.

Strain-induced changes in fiber orientation in multi-fiber hydrogel networks. (a) Schematic of the experimental device to strain fibrous hydrogel networks, where clamped samples were strained 50%, held for 1 hour, and the strain removed. (b) Left: representative confocal images of adhesive fibers (i) before straining, (ii) while strained, and (iii) after strain removal. Right: normalized frequency of fiber orientations before and after straining (flat line indicates no orientation, whereas the presence of a peak indicates orientation at that angle). (c) Left: fiber network model of adhesive fibers (i) before straining, (ii) while strained, and (iii) after strain removal. Right: normalized frequency of fiber orientations before and after straining. Scale bar is 50 µm, ***p≤0.001.