DeForest, Cole AScavone, Rossana2019-08-142019-08-142019Scavone_washington_0250O_20178.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/44087Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2019The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in regulating cell fate and function through dynamic and heterogenous presentation of well-defined chemical and mechanical cues. Though several research efforts have been fo- cused on trying to elucidate the effects of ECM-mediated cues on cell function, few in vitro platforms have been able to capture the four-dimensionality of me- chanical signaling that is presented in vivo. Towards this, our group recently introduced a hydrogel platform that undergoes reversible stiffening, made pos- sible using a fusion protein-based material crosslinker that underwent a stimuli- dependent conformational change. The protein used was LOV2-Jα, a species that responds to mild visible light and gives spatiotemporal control on the hy- drogel stiffness. In this work, we seek to expand the mechanical tunability of these protein-polymer-based hydrogels through well-defined mutations.application/pdfen-USnoneChemical engineeringBioengineeringChemical engineeringThesis