Sarah Gould showed VICs significantly upregulate alpha-SMA when plated on gels functionalized elastin and collagen mimic peptides as compared with the canonical fibronectin mimic peptide RGD. Furthermore, Sarah showed that alpha-SMA expression, indicative of a disease phenotype, is downregulated in VICs plated on gels versus though on tissue culture plastic.
S.T. Gould, N.J. Darling, and K.S. Anseth, “Small Peptide Functionalized Thiol-Ene Hydrogels as Culture Substrates for Understanding Valvular Interstitial Cell Activation and de novo Tissue Deposition,” Acta Biomaterialia, 8 (9), 3201-3209 (2012).