The mechanical behavior of soft tissue demonstrates a number of complex features including nonlinearity, anisotropy, viscoelasticity, and growth. Characteristic features of the time-dependent and anisotropic behavior are related to the properties of various components of the tissue such as fibrous collagen and elastin networks, large proteins and sugars attached to these networks, and interstit...

Tissue scaffolds play a vital role in tissue engineering by providing a native tissue-mimicking environment for cells, with the aim to promote cell proliferation, proper cell differentiation, and regeneration. To better mimic the microenvironment of native tissues, novel techniques and materials have emerged in recent years. Among them, hydrogels formed from self-assembled biopolymer networks a...