Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Transmission of Mechanical Stresses within the Cytoskeleton of Adherent Cells: A Theoretical Analysis Based on a Multi-Component Cell Model

Transmission of Mechanical Stresses within the Cytoskeleton of Adherent Cells: A Theoretical... How environmental mechanical forces affect cellular functions is a central problem in cell biology. Theoretical models of cellular biomechanics provide relevant tools for understanding how the contributions of deformable intracellular components and specific adhesion conditions at the cell interface are integrated for determining the overall balance of mechanical forces within the cell. We investigate here the spatial distributions of intracellular stresses when adherent cells are probed by magnetic twisting cytometry. The influence of the cell nucleus stiffness on the simulated nonlinear torque-bead rotation response is analyzed by considering a finite element multi-component cell model in which the cell and its nucleus are considered as different hyperelastic materials. We additionally take into account the mechanical properties of the basal cell cortex, which can be affected by the interaction of the basal cell membrane with the extracellular substrate. In agreement with data obtained on epithelial cells, the simulated behaviour of the cell model relates the hyperelastic response observed at the entire cell scale to the distribution of stresses and strains within the nucleus and the cytoskeleton, up to cell adhesion areas. These results, which indicate how mechanical forces are transmitted at distant points through the cytoskeleton, are compared to recent data imaging the highly localized distribution of intracellular stresses. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acta Biotheoretica Springer Journals

Transmission of Mechanical Stresses within the Cytoskeleton of Adherent Cells: A Theoretical Analysis Based on a Multi-Component Cell Model

Acta Biotheoretica , Volume 52 (4) – Dec 26, 2004

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/transmission-of-mechanical-stresses-within-the-cytoskeleton-of-IHanVovmtm

References (41)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
Subject
Philosophy; Philosophy of Biology; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0001-5342
eISSN
1572-8358
DOI
10.1023/B:ACBI.0000046601.50235.df
pmid
15520537
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

How environmental mechanical forces affect cellular functions is a central problem in cell biology. Theoretical models of cellular biomechanics provide relevant tools for understanding how the contributions of deformable intracellular components and specific adhesion conditions at the cell interface are integrated for determining the overall balance of mechanical forces within the cell. We investigate here the spatial distributions of intracellular stresses when adherent cells are probed by magnetic twisting cytometry. The influence of the cell nucleus stiffness on the simulated nonlinear torque-bead rotation response is analyzed by considering a finite element multi-component cell model in which the cell and its nucleus are considered as different hyperelastic materials. We additionally take into account the mechanical properties of the basal cell cortex, which can be affected by the interaction of the basal cell membrane with the extracellular substrate. In agreement with data obtained on epithelial cells, the simulated behaviour of the cell model relates the hyperelastic response observed at the entire cell scale to the distribution of stresses and strains within the nucleus and the cytoskeleton, up to cell adhesion areas. These results, which indicate how mechanical forces are transmitted at distant points through the cytoskeleton, are compared to recent data imaging the highly localized distribution of intracellular stresses.

Journal

Acta BiotheoreticaSpringer Journals

Published: Dec 26, 2004

There are no references for this article.