Tissue Cells Feel and Respond to the Stiffness of Their Substrate
@article{Discher2005TissueCF, title={Tissue Cells Feel and Respond to the Stiffness of Their Substrate}, author={Dennis E. Discher and Paul A. Janmey and Yu-Li Wang}, journal={Science}, year={2005}, volume={310}, pages={1139 - 1143} }
Normal tissue cells are generally not viable when suspended in a fluid and are therefore said to be anchorage dependent. Such cells must adhere to a solid, but a solid can be as rigid as glass or softer than a baby's skin. The behavior of some cells on soft materials is characteristic of important phenotypes; for example, cell growth on soft agar gels is used to identify cancer cells. However, an understanding of how tissue cells—including fibroblasts, myocytes, neurons, and other cell types…
5,432 Citations
A Multiwell Platform for Studying Stiffness-Dependent Cell Biology
- Biology, EngineeringPloS one
- 2011
It is found that the stiffness-dependent growth of normal human lung fibroblasts is largely invariant with collagen density, and that differences in their accumulation are amplified by increasing serum concentration.
The influence of substrate stiffness on the behavior and functions of Schwann cells in culture.
- Biology, EngineeringBiomaterials
- 2012
The hard life of soft cells.
- Biology, EngineeringCell motility and the cytoskeleton
- 2009
A brief review summarizes recent studies of the effects of substrate mechanics on cell motility, differentiation, and proliferation, and discusses possible mechanisms by which a cell can probe the stiffness of its surroundings.
How deeply cells feel: methods for thin gels
- Biology, Materials ScienceJournal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
- 2010
Initial results show that cells increasingly respond to the rigidity of an underlying ‘hidden’ surface starting at about 10–20 µm gel thickness with a characteristic tactile length of less than about 5 µm.
How can cells sense the elasticity of a substrate? An analysis using a cell tensegrity model.
- Biology, EngineeringEuropean cells & materials
- 2011
A finite element model of a cell, with a tensegrity structure to model the cytoskeleton of actin filaments and microtubules, is used to explore the way cells sense the stiffness of the substrate and thereby adapt to it and suggests that F-actin reorganisation observed in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in response to change of matrix elasticity is a structural-remodelling process that shifts the sensitivity peak towards the new value of Matrix elasticity.
Cell Mechanics on Surfaces
- Biology, Engineering
- 2013
This chapter provides information on how to fabricate more in vivo-like materials by carefully controlling substrate stiffness before the terms stiffness and elasticity need to be defined.
The role of material structure and mechanical properties in cell-matrix interactions.
- BiologyJournal of materials chemistry. B
- 2014
This review will summarise the evolution of materials for investigating cell and tissue mechanobiology, and discuss how material properties such as elastic modulus may be interpreted, particularly with regard to analytic measurements as an approximation of how cells themselves sense elasticModulus.
Physically based principles of cell adhesion mechanosensitivity in tissues
- Biology, EngineeringReports on progress in physics. Physical Society
- 2012
How biophysical approaches, both experimentally and theoretically, have contributed to the understanding of the regulation of cellular functions through physical force sensing mechanisms are shown.
Cell responses to the mechanochemical microenvironment--implications for regenerative medicine and drug delivery.
- BiologyAdvanced drug delivery reviews
- 2007
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 150 REFERENCES
Effects of substrate stiffness on cell morphology, cytoskeletal structure, and adhesion.
- Biology, EngineeringCell motility and the cytoskeleton
- 2005
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.
Substrate compliance versus ligand density in cell on gel responses.
- BiologyBiophysical journal
- 2004
Cell organization in soft media due to active mechanosensing
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 2003
It is suggested that cell–matrix contacts are up-regulated by large effective stiffness in the environment because, in this way, build-up of force is more efficient and the concept of contact guidance has to be reevaluated.
Cell type-specific response to growth on soft materials.
- BiologyJournal of applied physiology
- 2005
The specificity of cell response to stiffness and how this may be important in particular tissue systems is discussed and the mechanoresponse to real pathological states is linked and speculated on the possible biological significance of mechanosensing.
Nonlinear elasticity in biological gels
- BiologyNature
- 2005
A molecular theory that accounts for strain-stiffening in a range of molecularly distinct gels formed from cytoskeletal and extracellular proteins and that reveals universal stress–strain relations at low to intermediate strains is reported.
Responses of fibroblasts to anchorage of dorsal extracellular matrix receptors
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 2004
It is suggested that fibroblasts respond to both spatial distribution and mechanical input of anchored ECM receptors, which affect diverse cellular activities, including gene expression, growth, and differentiation, as shown in numerous previous studies.
Adhesion-contractile balance in myocyte differentiation
- BiologyJournal of Cell Science
- 2004
Myotubes in culture are clearly prestressed by myosin II, and this contractility couples to substrate compliance and ultimately influences actomyosin striation, which implies a greater contractile stress.
Cell locomotion and focal adhesions are regulated by substrate flexibility.
- BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- 1997
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.
Neurite branching on deformable substrates
- BiologyNeuroreport
- 2002
Results show that mechanical properties of the substrate specifically direct the formation of neurite branches, which are critical for appropriate synaptic connections during development and regeneration.