Journal ArticleDOI
Soft biological materials and their impact on cell function
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TLDR
Biocompatible synthetic materials already have many applications, but combining chemical compatibility with physiologically appropriate mechanical properties will increase their potential for use both as implants and as substrates for tissue engineering.Abstract:
Most organs and biological tissues are soft viscoelastic materials with elastic moduli ranging from on the order of 100 Pa for the brain to 100 000 Pa for soft cartilage. Biocompatible synthetic materials already have many applications, but combining chemical compatibility with physiologically appropriate mechanical properties will increase their potential for use both as implants and as substrates for tissue engineering. Understanding and controlling mechanical properties, specifically softness, is important for appropriate physiological function in numerous contexts. The mechanical properties of the substrate on which, or within which, cells are placed can have as large an impact as chemical stimuli on cell morphology, differentiation, motility, and commitment to live or die.read more
Citations
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Active-gel theory for multicellular migration of polar cells in the extra-cellular matrix
Ram M. Adar,Jean-François Joanny +1 more
TL;DR: An active-gel theory for multicellular migration in the extra-cellular matrix (ECM) is formulated, which predicts that, as a consequence of cell-matrix alignment, contractile cells migrate homogeneously for small wave vectors, while sufficiently extensile cells migration in domains.
Development of integrated plasmomechanical sensors in microfluidic devices for live cell analysis
Solís Tinoco,Verónica Iraís +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a prototype of a flexible and plasmo-mecanico embedded with microfluidica is presented, which is used in a celular sensor.
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Three-dimensional mechanical characterization of murine skeletal muscle using quantitative micro-elastography
TL;DR: In this article , the authors used quantitative micro-elastography (QME) to characterize the micro-scale elasticity of ex vivo murine skeletal muscle in three-dimensions in whole muscles.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chromatin Remodeling Directs the Fate of Epithelial Cells on Soft Matrix
TL;DR: Cell therapy is an emerging field in the development of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and cancer immunotherapy, and hydrogels, due to their biochemical and physical properties, are materials of choice to mimic the extracellular matrix.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Tissue Cells Feel and Respond to the Stiffness of Their Substrate
TL;DR: An understanding of how tissue cells—including fibroblasts, myocytes, neurons, and other cell types—sense matrix stiffness is just emerging with quantitative studies of cells adhering to gels with which elasticity can be tuned to approximate that of tissues.
Journal ArticleDOI
Tensional homeostasis and the malignant phenotype.
Matthew J. Paszek,Nastaran Zahir,Kandice R. Johnson,Johnathon N. Lakins,Gabriela I. Rozenberg,Amit Gefen,Cynthia A. Reinhart-King,Susan S. Margulies,Micah Dembo,David Boettiger,Daniel A. Hammer,Valerie M. Weaver +11 more
TL;DR: It is found that tumors are rigid because they have a stiff stroma and elevated Rho-dependent cytoskeletal tension that drives focal adhesions, disrupts adherens junctions, perturbs tissue polarity, enhances growth, and hinders lumen formation.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cell locomotion and focal adhesions are regulated by substrate flexibility
Robert J. Pelham,Yu-li Wang +1 more
TL;DR: The ability of cells to survey the mechanical properties of their surrounding environment is demonstrated and the possible involvement of both protein tyrosine phosphorylation and myosin-generated cortical forces in this process is suggested.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of substrate stiffness on cell morphology, cytoskeletal structure, and adhesion
Tony Yeung,Penelope C. Georges,Lisa A. Flanagan,Beatrice Marg,Miguelina Ortiz,Makoto Funaki,Nastaran Zahir,Wenyu Ming,Valerie M. Weaver,Paul A. Janmey,Paul A. Janmey +10 more
TL;DR: The hypothesis that mechanical factors impact different cell types in fundamentally different ways, and can trigger specific changes similar to those stimulated by soluble ligands, is supported.
Journal ArticleDOI
Local force and geometry sensing regulate cell functions.
Viola Vogel,Michael P. Sheetz +1 more
TL;DR: Tissue scaffolds that have been engineered at the micro- and nanoscale level now enable better dissection of the mechanosensing, transduction and response mechanisms of eukaryotic cells.
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