Smart soft materials are envisioned to be the building blocks of the next generation of
advanced devices and digitally augmented technologies. In this context, liquid crystals (LCs) …

Liquid crystals have been intensively studied as functional materials. Recently, integration of
various disciplines has led to new directions in the design of functional liquid‐crystalline …

Cell adhesion is a basic requirement for anchorage-dependent cells to survive on the matrix.
It is the first step in a series of cell activities, such as cell diffusion, migration, proliferation …

Precise control over molecular movement is of fundamental and practical importance in
physics, biology, and chemistry. At nanoscale, the peculiar functioning principles and the …

Liquid crystal is a state of matter being intermediate between solid and liquid. Liquid crystal
materials exhibit both orientational order and fluidity. While liquid crystals have long been …

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are a unique class of materials that combine rubber
elasticity with liquid crystalline anisotropy to produce exceptional physical and optical …

Abstract Systems that are intelligent have the ability to sense their surroundings, analyze,
and respond accordingly. In nature, many biological systems are considered intelligent (eg …

Eukaryotic cells in living tissues form dynamic patterns with spatially varying orientational
order that affects important physiological processes such as apoptosis and cell migration …

The cell microenvironment choreographs the behaviors of cells through multiple well-
controlled signals. For basic biological study and cell-based therapies, it is essential to …

Cells in the body reside within the extracellular matrix (ECM), a three-dimensional
environment that not only provides structural support for the cells, but also influences cellular …