Related papers: Mechanical model for a collagen fibril pair in ext…
Skeletal muscles are living tissues that can undergo large deformations in short periods of time and that can be activated to produce force. In this paper we use the principles of continuum mechanics to propose a dynamic, fully non-linear,…
Migratory and tissue resident cells exhibit highly branched morphologies to perform their function and to adapt to the microenvironment. Immune cells, for example, display transient branched shapes while exploring the surrounding tissues.…
We propose a class of microstructurally informed models for the linear elastic mechanical behavior of cross-linked polymer networks such as the actin cytoskeleton. Salient features of the models include the possibility to represent…
Recent biological experiments have shown that certain types of cells are able to move in structured and confined environment even without the activation of focal adhesion. Focusing on this particular phenomenon and based on previous works,…
A conceptual difficulty in the Hooke's-law description of ideal Gaussian polymer-chain elasticity is sometimes apparent in analyses of experimental data or in physical models designed to simulate the behavior of biopolymers. The problem,…
The extensor mechanism is a tendinous structure that plays an important role in finger function. It transmits forces from several intrinsic and extrinsic muscles to multiple bony attachments along the finger via sheets of collagen fibers.…
The cytoskeleton is a model active matter system that controls diverse cellular processes from division to motility. While both active actomyosin dynamics and actin-microtubule interactions are key to the cytoskeleton's versatility and…
Large-scale neural mass models have been widely used to simulate resting-state brain activity from structural connectivity. In this work, we extend a well-established Wilson--Cowan framework by introducing a novel hemispheric-specific…
Self organization mechanisms are essential for the cytoskeleton to adapt to the requirements of living cells. They rely on the intricate interplay of cytoskeletal filaments, crosslinking proteins and molecular motors. Here we present an in…
Anchorage-dependent cells collect information on the mechanical properties of the environment through their contractile machineries and use this information to position and orient themselves. Since the probing process is anisotropic,…
The cell cortex is a thin layer beneath the plasma membrane that gives animal cells mechanical resistance and drives most of their shape changes, from migration, division to multicellular morphogenesis. It is mainly composed of actin…
A quantum chain model of many molecule motors is proposed as a mathematical physics theory on the microscopic modeling of classical force-velocity relation and tension transients of muscle fibre. We proposed quantum many-particle…
The interaction of the actin cytoskeleton with cell-substrate adhesions is necessary for cell migration. While the trajectories of motile cells have a stochastic character, investigations of cell motility mechanisms rarely elaborate on the…
We study the force generation by a set of parallel actin filaments growing against an elastic membrane. The elastic membrane tries to stay flat and any deformation from this flat state, either caused by thermal fluctuations or due to…
Collective cell migration is a key driver of embryonic development, wound healing, and some types of cancer invasion. Here we provide a physical perspective of the mechanisms underlying collective cell migration. We begin with a catalogue…
We investigate the geometrical and mechanical properties of adherent cells characterized by a highly anisotropic actin cytoskeleton. Using a combination of theoretical work and experiments on micropillar arrays, we demonstrate that the…
Fibre-reinforced elastomers are lightweight and strong materials that can sustain large deformations. When filled with magnetic particles, their effective mechanical response can be modified by an external magnetic field. In the present…
Fibrinogen is a protein found in blood that forms Fibrin polymer network to build a clot during wound healing process when there is a cut in the blood vessel. The fibrin fiber is highly stretchable and shows a complex mechanical properties.…
We investigate the elastic properties of anisotropic elastomers with a double-twist director field, which is a model for collagen fibrils or blue phases. We observe a significant Poynting-like effect, coupling torsion (fibril twist) and…
To describe the interaction between longitudinal density modulations along collagen fibrils (the D-band) with the radial twist-field of molecular orientation (double-twist), we couple phase-field-crystal (PFC) with liquid-crystalline…