Innovative Approaches to Extracellular Matrix Research

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Yutaka Matsubayashi

Bournemouth University

Yutaka Matsubayashi, PhD, FHEA is a Senior Lecturer in Systems Biology at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences within the Faculty of Health, Environment and Medical Sciences at Bournemouth University, UK. He obtained his PhD from Kyoto University, Japan, where he analysed the role of ERK MAP kinase in the collective migration of epithelial cells (Matsubayashi et al., 2004). Since then, he has been fascinated by the coordinated actions of multiple cells and extracellular matrices (ECMs) during tissue development and repair. He has pursued this research theme using multidisciplinary approaches that integrate genetics, live-cell microscopy, and mathematical modelling. Currently, by combining fruit fly genetics and bioinformatics, he is investigating the mechanisms underlying the coordinated development of the basement membrane and muscles.

Aya M. Akimoto

Department of Human-Centered Engineering, Faculty of Transdisciplinary Engineering, Ochanomizu University

Aya M. Akimoto, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Transdisciplinary Engineering at Ochanomizu University, Japan. She obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Keio University. She subsequently conducted research at RIKEN and The University of Tokyo, where she developed her work consistently in the field of polymer biomaterials. In recent years, her research has focused on hydrogels with structures and properties analogous to the extracellular matrix (ECM), with particular emphasis on their surface and interfacial states. Her work spans from fundamental studies on structure–property–function relationships to the development of cell culture materials. She adopts a multidisciplinary strategy, collaborating with researchers across diverse fields. By integrating physics, chemistry, and biology through an engineering perspective, she aims to advance the understanding of ECM and related soft material systems.

Collection Overview

Extracellular matrices (ECMs) are essential for the architecture and function of animal tissues. They provide tissue integrity, serve as scaffolds for cells, and regulate signal transduction by directly activating receptors such as integrins or by acting as reservoirs for growth factors and cytokines. Defects in these architectural and signalling functions can lead to severe conditions, including skin fragility and developmental malformations.

While acknowledged to play various essential roles, ECMs have long been regarded as relatively static and passive structures, with tissue dynamics and rearrangements largely attributed to the actions of cells residing within or on the ECM. Indeed, ECMs were once compared to ‘the styrofoam packing material’, which merely ‘“fills the spaces” between cells and tissues’ (Rozario and DeSimone, 2010).

Contrary to this traditional view, recent studies are revealing that ECMs are in fact highly dynamic structures that continuously move, remodel, and exchange their components. Moreover, ECMs have even been proposed to generate mechanical forces that contribute directly to tissue morphogenesis (Matsubayashi, 2022; Serna-Morales et al., 2023).

To understand these dynamic behaviours, it is necessary to characterise not only the chemistry of ECM components, namely their identities and activities, but also the physics of the matrix, including flow, turnover, and viscoelasticity. This collection aims to highlight diverse methodologies for analysing these features and the insights the analyses provide. Covered topics are anticipated to encompass a broad range of scientific disciplines, including biochemistry, biomaterials engineering, computational image analysis, and mathematical modelling.

Abstracts

Wound Position Determines Morphological Stability and Quantitative Accuracy in Murine Skin Healing Models

Ryoma Matsuzaki^*1,

Chi Chen¹,

Rina Akashi¹,

Keita Kobashi¹,

Ryoichi Mori^*1

¹Department of Tissue Repair and Regenerative Medical Science, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University

Wrinkle force microscopy for quantitative measurement of cellular traction forces

Honghan Li¹,

Daiki Matsunaga^*2,

Rey Rios²,

Shinji Deguchi^*2

¹University of Science and Technology Liaoning,

²The University of Osaka

Protocol for Quantifying ECM Lysosomal Degradation Using Cultured Mammalian Cells

Eisuke Itakura^*1

¹Chiba University,