  Collagen is a key component of the extracellular matrix and well-oriented
domains of collagen are relevant for mimicking the local cell environment in
vitro. While there has been significant attention directed towards the
alignment of collagen, formation of large-scale oriented domains remains a key
challenge. Type I collagen self-assembles to form liquid crystalline (LC)
mesophases in acidic conditions at concentrations above 100 mg/ml. The LC
mesophase provides an efficient platform for large-scale alignment and
patterning of collagen coated substrates. However, there exist challenges
related to solubilizing and processing of collagen at such high concentrations
in order to replicate the native extra cellular matrix (ECM). In this
contribution, we report on centimeter-scale alignment in collagen-coated glass
substrates using solutions that are well below the LC-forming concentrations.
Importantly, we are also able to extend this method to create a mimic of the
native ECM via macroscopic 3-D collagen hydrogels with programmed anisotropy
within them. We explain the formation of these uniform domains via
shear-induced and magnetically-induced liquid crystallinity of the collagen
solutions. We show that the orientation, spreading and aspect ratio of Human
Schwann Cells (HSCs) all are strongly coupled with the alignment of the
collagen substrate/hydrogel. We use a simple Metroplis-based model to reveal
that a critical magnetic field strength exists for a given concentration of
collagen, exceeding which, macroscopic alignment is permissible- enabling
guidance for future studies on alignment of collagen at high concentrations.
