EVIDENCE / THE SCIENCE BEHIND SENCE^™

What the research behind SENCE^™ has enabled.

Research with the hydrogel platform behind SENCE^™ shows how mechanics and the ECM interface can change cell behaviour. Explore four demonstrated outcomes—and what they could mean for your work.

AGEING / RAT BRAIN PROGENITOR CELLS

Restored activity in aged progenitor cells.

In a rat brain-cell study, aged progenitor cells regained proliferation and differentiation activity on softer research hydrogels. Their environment helped determine what they could do.

Segel et al. · Nature · 2019
Rat oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs)

Follow the discovery Watch the disease-modelling application

A cell-culture finding, not evidence of a human ageing treatment.

Conceptual branching progenitor cell on a hydrogel surface — Conceptual illustration of a cell and its physical niche.

Mouse embryonic stem cells

Preserved stem-cell identity.

Mouse embryonic stem cells spent five days on plastic, stiff hydrogels or soft hydrogels in serum without LIF. All were then replated into the same self-renewal assay. Cells from the soft conditions formed more AP-positive colonies, supporting self-renewal in this tested system.

Labouesse et al. · Nature Communications · 2021

See the experiment and original result

For your work: watch the stem-cell application

Published graph comparing normalized AP-positive colony counts after culture on tissue-culture plastic, stiff hydrogels and soft hydrogels — Original Figure 4b graph, cropped. Colonies staining positive for alkaline phosphatase (AP), counted relative to a separate serum+LIF/TCP reference; not a percentage of cells. Labouesse et al., CC BY 4.0.

Tet2-mutant mouse blood stem cells

Restrained mutant stem-cell expansion.

In Tet2-mutant mouse blood stem cells, a matrix protein anchored to research hydrogels reduced an expansion advantage. The same protein on plastic did not produce that effect.

Jassinskaja et al. · Cell Reports · 2026

Discover why attachment mattered

Related application: stem-cell research

Repair signalling / mouse fibroblasts

Strengthened responses to a repair signal.

Mouse fibroblasts on soft research hydrogels showed a stronger response to BMP-7. The culture study helped reveal a role for physical context in repair signalling.

Mui et al. · Science · 2026

Explore the repair research

For your work: watch the repair application

Cell and matrix illustrations are conceptual, not microscopy. Each story separates culture findings from animal interventions and possible customer evaluations.

FROM DEMONSTRATED RESEARCH TO YOUR NEXT QUESTION

What could SENCE^™ enable for you?

The customer films show how you could explore mechanobiology in discovery, screening, drug development and cell research. Each application connects a possible comparison to its supporting research.

Watch the application films

Go deeper into the research.

Keep the model, material system and measured endpoint in view. Research findings establish specific possibilities; your own workflow needs its own evaluation.

SENCE^™ Application Notes · PDF Guide: how to read a hydrogel experiment