Make the physical environment part of the experiment.

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More control over the physical environment opens new ways to explore cell fate and function. SENCE^™ brings that capability into hydrogel-coated cell-culture plates and coverslips. The hydrogel, with defined stiffness and protein-binding chemistry, is supplied ready for your protocol. You choose the extracellular matrix proteins, or ECM, and the biology you want to study.

Here is why that combination matters. An adherent cell grips matrix proteins and pulls against them. The resistance it encounters can influence signals inside the cell. Those signals interact with the biochemical cues you already work with, helping shape how the cell behaves. This is mechanobiology at work.

The cell experiences more than stiffness. The type of matrix protein matters, as does how it is anchored to the surface and presented to the cell. If stiffness and that interface change together, a different biological result can be difficult to interpret.

Separating those variables gives you a clearer experiment. You can compare stiffness conditions while working to match the ECM interface. Or keep stiffness constant and investigate a change in ECM. The aim is to understand which physical inputs matter for your cells, rather than change several things at once.

The research platform behind SENCE^™ demonstrated independent control of stiffness and ECM tethering. That opens a useful connection between physical conditions and biological goals. Two published examples show what this can mean.

In mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers found that soft research hydrogels supported naïve stem-cell identity and self-renewal with reduced soluble support. For a team trying to preserve a particular cell state, the physical environment became part of the culture strategy.

A second study examined brain progenitor cells from aged rats. In culture, soft research hydrogels coated with laminin restored their ability to proliferate and differentiate relative to stiff conditions. That result shows how changing the physical environment can recover useful cellular behaviour in a specific experimental system.

These studies give you reasons to test physical conditions against the outcome you need. The right choice depends on the cells, coating and wider protocol. Your experiment establishes which combination works for your application.

With SENCE^™, you start with the manufactured hydrogel and binding chemistry already in place. Choose the format and stiffness for your experiment, apply your selected ECM using the appropriate coating protocol, then add your cells and medium. You can bring these physical variables into your work without making the supplied hydrogel yourself.

Begin with a question that matters to your team. Perhaps you want to preserve identity, investigate differentiation, or measure a functional response. Compare conditions using a matched cell source, coating protocol, medium and measurement method, and verify the interface you intend to hold constant. Measure the biological outcome that will guide your next decision.

Our Early Access Program brings you the product and the people behind it. We work closely with research groups and companies to transfer our knowledge and experience into their workflows before full market release. Bring us your research question, and we can shape a practical SENCE^™ evaluation together.

SENCE^™ supplies the hydrogel and binding chemistry. You add your selected ECM, cells and medium.

EXPLORE YOUR APPLICATION

What could SENCE^™ enable in your lab?

From drug screening to cell therapy: eight short films showing how SENCE^™ could support your next experiment.

Find your application

SENCE^™ for discovery and disease research

Discovery & mechanobiology

Find out which physical cues drive a response.

1:25 · 1080p

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When a cell changes state, you want to know why. Could the surface be changing the answer? SENCE^™ supplies a specified, ready-to-use hydrogel surface and built-in protein-binding chemistry, in plates and coverslips. Start with two stiffness conditions. Match the cells, medium and timing. Specify the same matrix protein, and verify its attachment and presentation, so those differences don't quietly become a second experiment. Follow an early signalling readout, then the cell state and function you care about. A change in cell shape can start an investigation; a functional measurement helps explain its importance. The published StemBond platform separated stiffness from matrix tethering. In mouse pluripotent stem cells, softer conditions also changed signalling linked to cell identity. That establishes a powerful experimental question to bring into your own system. If the response depends on stiffness, investigate that pathway. Next, hold stiffness constant and evaluate a selected matrix parameter, with the other interface properties controlled and checked. Through Early Access, work with StemBond to bring the product and practical knowledge into a focused experiment for your research.

Identify a mechanism to investigate, with controls that help explain the response.

Labouesse et al. · Nature Communications · 2021

Plan a comparison for your work

Bring stiffness and the ECM interface into your experimental design. Test whether a change in cell state comes from mechanics, matrix cues or their interaction, alongside the soluble signals you already study.

Change: Stiffness, or one selected ECM parameter.
Match: When varying stiffness, keep ECM type and attachment method consistent. When comparing ECM protein types, keep stiffness and the coating protocol consistent. Use the same cells, medium and timing.
Measure: Cell shape, signalling, gene expression and a relevant functional endpoint.

StemBond research · Peer reviewed

Labouesse and colleagues separated stiffness from ECM tethering in the research hydrogel platform. Soft conditions supported naïve pluripotency and self-renewal in mouse stem cells under reduced soluble support.

These findings concern the tested research system, rather than every current SENCE^™ configuration.

Disease modelling

Make the physical niche part of the model.

1:24 · 1080p

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Your disease model shows a difference between two cell populations. How much belongs to the cells, and how much to their surroundings? SENCE^™ plates and coverslips supply a hydrogel surface with built-in protein-binding chemistry. Place disease and control cells on each of two stiffnesses. Within the comparison, match medium, density and timing. Verify that matrix type, attachment and presentation are comparable, so mechanics has a clear interpretation. Measure your disease phenotype alongside proliferation and the function the model should represent. Ask whether the difference persists across environments, or becomes stronger in a particular physical setting. In research behind the platform's lineage, aged rat brain progenitor cells regained proliferation and differentiation activity on softer hydrogels. The finding showed that reduced activity could depend on the niche, rather than cell age alone. For your model, this comparison helps decide which environmental conditions need to be included, and which cell-intrinsic mechanisms deserve further investigation. Each answers a different biological question. Work with StemBond through Early Access to select a surface, transfer practical knowledge and plan the evaluation your model needs.

Decide which environmental conditions are necessary to interpret your disease model.

Segel et al. · Nature · 2019

Plan a comparison for your work

Compare cell-intrinsic changes with responses to the surrounding niche. Build controlled comparisons for ageing, neurological disease, fibrosis or cancer, using physical conditions as an explicit part of the model.

Change: Disease and control cells across selected surface conditions.
Match: A defined ECM interface, medium, cell density and measurement time within each comparison.
Measure: Disease phenotype, proliferation, differentiation and model-specific function.

StemBond research lineage · Peer reviewed

In aged rat brain progenitor cells, Segel and colleagues found that a softer niche restored proliferation and differentiation activity relative to stiff research substrates.

A rodent cell-culture finding; the separate animal interventions do not establish a human treatment or a complete disease model in a plate.

Regeneration & repair

Connect physical context with repair-associated responses.

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A growth factor can send a repair signal. The question is whether your fibroblasts respond the same way when their surroundings change. SENCE^™ gives you hydrogel-coated cultureware. Compare the same fibroblasts on softer and stiffer surfaces, with and without your candidate growth factor. Match ECM type, check attachment and presentation, and keep cell density, medium and exposure time consistent. Measure the early signalling response, then follow repair-associated gene expression and matrix deposition. Count viable cells alongside these readouts, so a larger signal is not simply a larger population. In mouse skin fibroblasts, researchers found stronger BMP-7 signalling on soft StemBond research hydrogels. Their animal repair experiments were separate: the culture surface helped investigate mechanism, rather than serving as a treatment. If the growth factor's effect depends on the surface, test that interaction again before advancing. Use the result to choose a relevant, more complex repair model. Through StemBond's Early Access Program, plan a controlled fibroblast study with the team. Bring your signal, your cells and your decision.

Identify context-dependent responses to investigate in the next model.

Mui et al. · Science · 2026

Plan a comparison for your work

Make the physical environment part of fibroblast and tissue-repair research. Explore how mechanics and ECM conditions interact with growth factors or candidate interventions before moving from a culture response to a more complex repair model.

Change: Selected stiffness conditions, with and without the candidate growth factor.
Match: Fibroblast source, ECM type and attachment, cell density and exposure.
Measure: Pathway activation, repair-associated gene expression, ECM deposition and viable cell number.

StemBond research · Peer reviewed

Working primarily with mouse skin fibroblasts, Mui and colleagues used soft StemBond research hydrogels to show enhanced BMP-7 signalling and altered repair-associated programmes. Their separate animal interventions investigated matrix changes and regeneration.

The culture findings do not show that SENCE^™ heals wounds or regenerates tissue. Functional repair requires its own appropriate model and evidence.

SENCE^™ for screening and drug research

Drug screening

Test whether hits depend on the culture surface.

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A promising hit deserves a careful follow-up. Would it still stand out if the cells experienced a different physical environment? SENCE^™ offers hydrogel-coated plates, including ninety-six-well formats. Run the same compound panel across two stiffness conditions. Match seeding, exposure and controls, and verify matrix attachment and presentation. Begin with a pilot that checks assay performance and handling in each condition. Read the phenotype alongside viability and assay quality. Then compare hit rankings. You can investigate responses that persist across conditions, and responses that depend on the culture surface. In external breast-cancer research, fibronectin-coated hydrogel arrays revealed drug responses that changed with substrate mechanics. The effect depended on the drug and cell model. That study used a different material system, providing a rationale for evaluation. Use your results to choose which hits need confirmation, and which physical conditions belong in the next assay. A context-dependent response can become a useful mechanistic lead. Through Early Access, work closely with StemBond to evaluate the product, share practical knowledge and design a screening pilot together.

Choose which hits and assay conditions deserve follow-up.

Medina et al. · Biomaterials · 2019

Plan a comparison for your work

Add a defined mechanical and ECM context to a compound, genetic or phenotypic screen. The aim is to identify responses that persist across conditions, and those that depend on the environment in which the cells were tested.

Change: Your perturbation panel across selected stiffness conditions.
Match: ECM type and attachment, seeding, exposure and plate controls.
Measure: Hit ranking, phenotype, viability and assay quality within each condition.

External mechanobiology research · Peer reviewed

Medina and colleagues used fibronectin-coated polyacrylamide multiwell arrays to show that breast-cancer cell responses to drugs changed with substrate mechanics.

This was a different material system. A SENCE^™ screen needs its own assay, uniformity and handling evaluation; 96-well availability alone does not establish automation compatibility.

Drug development

Understand response, resistance and context.

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You have a promising compound. Now you need to know whether its effect changes when the cells experience a different physical environment. SENCE^™ gives you hydrogel-coated plates and coverslips with defined stiffness and built-in protein-binding chemistry. Run the same dose series at two selected stiffnesses. Match the cell source, exposure and medium. Specify and verify ECM type, attachment and presentation, so the coating is controlled alongside the mechanics. Measure target engagement alongside survival and the phenotype that matters. A change in survival can then be investigated alongside the candidate's action on its target, rather than interpreted on its own. In breast-cancer research, Medina and colleagues found that drug responses changed with mechanics on fibronectin-coated arrays. They used a different material system, and the response depended on the drug and cell model. Your result helps choose the next experiment: investigate a context-dependent response, or test whether activity persists across further conditions. Either way, the physical environment becomes part of the reasoning. Through our Early Access Program, work with StemBond to choose the surface comparison and transfer practical experience into your candidate evaluation.

Prioritise the follow-up experiments needed to explain a candidate’s activity.

Medina et al. · Biomaterials · 2019

Plan a comparison for your work

Bring mechanics and ECM conditions into dose-response and mechanism-of-action studies. Explore whether a candidate’s effect, or a resistance-associated phenotype, depends on the physical environment as well as the molecular target.

Change: Candidate dose across selected stiffness and ECM conditions.
Match: The cell model, exposure, endpoint and defined ECM controls for each stiffness comparison.
Measure: Dose-response, target engagement, phenotype and functional response.

External mechanobiology research · Peer reviewed

The Medina study provides an example of matrix mechanics changing drug responses in breast-cancer cell lines. It gives a reason to test physical context during compound evaluation.

This supports an experimental question, not a claim that SENCE^™ predicts clinical efficacy, toxicity or development success.

Immunology

Explore activation, state and function together.

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More T cells can look like progress. But if you need a particular immune response, cell number is only the beginning. SENCE^™ supplies hydrogel-coated plates and coverslips with protein-binding chemistry built in. Start with primary human T cells from the same donor. Compare two surface stiffnesses using the same activation stimulus. First establish compatible ligand attachment, then verify matched presentation, cell density, medium and exposure. Track activation, viable expansion and the phenotype you want to preserve. Measure cytokine release in your chosen functional assay. A marker shift becomes more useful when you understand what the cells can do. Published work on a different hydrogel system showed that mechanics and ligand presentation changed primary human T-cell expansion and phenotype. That activation surface was not SENCE^™; its results motivate a carefully designed evaluation. Use the comparison to identify which conditions deserve functional follow-up, and which effects depend on stimulation. Confirm the response across donors before extending the study. Bring your immune-cell question to StemBond's Early Access Program. Work with the team to plan the interface, controls and readouts.

Distinguish a change in cell state from a change in useful immune function.

Anandasivam et al. · Advanced Materials · 2026

Plan a comparison for your work

Investigate whether surface-bound signals and the mechanics beneath them change immune-cell activation or function. Discuss the specific ECM or stimulatory-ligand interface your experiment requires before selecting the culture setup.

Change: Selected physical conditions with a defined activation or signalling stimulus.
Match: Stimulus type and attachment, donor, cell density, medium and exposure time.
Measure: Activation, proliferation, phenotype, cytokine response and relevant target-cell killing.

External mechanobiology research · Peer reviewed

Anandasivam and colleagues linked mechanics and surface-bound activating signals with expansion and phenotype in primary human T cells. Separate functional killing measurements used mouse OT-I T cells.

A rationale for a SENCE^™ evaluation, not validation of every immune-cell type, activation reagent or ligand-binding method.

SENCE^™ for cell development

Stem-cell research

Consider identity and function alongside cell number.

1:24 · 1080p

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A flask full of cells is useful when they retain the identity and capability your next step needs. That makes the culture environment worth testing. SENCE^™ supplies hydrogel-coated plates and coverslips with defined stiffness and built-in protein-binding chemistry. Start with your maintenance protocol on two selected stiffnesses. Match the starting cell state, passage and medium. Verify that ECM type, attachment and presentation are matched, then follow both cultures through the same schedule. Count viable cells, measure the identity markers you need, and test a relevant function. For a maintenance workflow, include the ability to enter the differentiation step you intend to use next. On the published StemBond platform, soft hydrogels supported naïve identity in mouse embryonic stem cells. Self-renewal under reduced soluble support was tested by replating the cells into supportive conditions. Select conditions against your own identity and function criteria, then evaluate them through further passages or differentiation. The useful result is a culture you understand well enough to develop further. Our Early Access Program brings StemBond's product and practical experience into that work. Plan a comparison around the cell state you need.

Select conditions to evaluate further against your target cell-state criteria.

Labouesse et al. · 2021 Jassinskaja et al. · Cell Reports · 2026

Plan a comparison for your work

Evaluate the physical niche alongside media and growth factors when maintaining stem cells or directing differentiation. Look for the identity and function you need, as well as the number of cells produced.

Change: Selected stiffness and ECM conditions within your maintenance or differentiation protocol.
Match: Cell source, passage, soluble cues and timing within each controlled comparison.
Measure: Yield, viability, identity, lineage markers and the relevant functional assay.

StemBond research · Peer reviewed

Soft StemBond research hydrogels supported naïve pluripotency and self-renewal in mouse stem cells. In a separate mouse blood-stem-cell study, hydrogel-anchored vWF restrained the Tet2-mutant expansion advantage.

Expansion is not always the desired outcome. These cell- and condition-specific findings do not establish a universal yield or differentiation improvement.

Cell therapy

Explore physical inputs to cell quality.

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Developing a cell therapy means growing enough cells while preserving the attributes they need. The culture step is worth examining. SENCE^™ supplies hydrogel-coated cultureware. For T-cell research, first evaluate whether the required stimulatory signals can be presented appropriately. Once that interface is established, compare two stiffness conditions during activation. Match the donor, cell density, medium and stimulation schedule. Verify ligand presentation across both surfaces before interpreting a mechanical effect. After the same subsequent culture, compare viable yield and phenotype, alongside a relevant functional assay. Use those measurements together to ask whether a condition preserves the attributes your process needs. A published study used a different engineered hydrogel system to vary mechanics and the signals presented to human T cells. Expansion and phenotype changed, giving a reason to evaluate those inputs together in your research. Advance conditions that meet your criteria into further donor and process studies. SENCE^™ is for research use; clinical manufacturing suitability would need separate qualification. Through Early Access, work directly with StemBond on the interface, experimental comparison and practical knowledge needed to explore your process question.

Identify conditions worth further process and product-quality investigation.

Anandasivam et al. · Advanced Materials · 2026

Plan a comparison for your work

For teams developing cell therapies, SENCE^™ offers a research setting in which to evaluate physical inputs to activation, expansion and differentiation. Compare candidate conditions using cell identity and functional quality alongside yield.

Change: A defined surface condition within the relevant research culture step.
Match: Donor or cell source, medium, stimulation and timing; confirm how the chosen activating ligands attach to the surface.
Measure: Expansion, viability, phenotype and an appropriate functional or potency-related research assay.

External mechanobiology research · Peer reviewed

Anandasivam and colleagues jointly varied mechanics and surface-bound activating signals in a different engineered activation surface, changing primary human T-cell expansion and phenotype. Separate target-killing experiments used mouse OT-I T cells.

That surface was not SENCE^™. This route is research and process development: it does not claim GMP qualification, clinical manufacturing suitability or therapeutic performance for SENCE^™.