Creating stiffness gradient polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel using a simple gradual freezing–thawing method to investigate stem cell differentiation behaviors

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cylindrical hydrogel with a stiffness gradient was prepared using a simple liquid nitrogen (LN2)-contacting gradual freezing and thawing method in order to investigate the effects of substrate stiffness on stem cell differentiation into specific cell types. The prepared cylindrical PVA hydrogel showed a gradually increasing stiffness along the longitudinal direction from the top at approximately 1 kPa to the bottom (LN2...