Related papers: A practical review on the measurement tools for ce…
Bistability is a major mechanism for cellular decision making and usually results from positive feedback in biochemical control systems. Here we show theoretically that bistability between unbound and bound states of adhesion clusters…
Numerical investigation of the interaction of electromagnetic fields with eukaryotic cells requires specifically adapted computer models. Virtual microdosimetry, used to investigate exposure, requires volumetric cell models, which are…
The mechanics of crawling cells on a substrate is investigated by using a minimal model that satisfies the force-free condition. A cell is described by two subcellular elements connected by a linear actuator that changes the length of the…
Human pluripotent stem cells hold great promise for developments in regenerative medicine and drug design. The mathematical modelling of stem cells and their properties is necessary to understand and quantify key behaviours and develop…
The constant interplay and information exchange between cells and their micro-environment are essential to their survival and ability to execute biological functions. To date, a few leading technologies such as traction force microscopy,…
Molecular adhesion plays a central role in many biological systems, yet existing methods to quantify adhesive strength often struggle to bridge the gap between single-molecule resolution and biologically relevant environments. Here, we…
The dynamic interplay between collective cell movement and the various molecules involved in the accompanying cell signalling mechanisms plays a crucial role in many biological processes including normal tissue development and pathological…
Understanding mechanosensitivity, i.e. how cells sense the stiffness of their environment is very important, yet there is a fundamental difficulty in understanding its mechanism: to measure an elastic modulus one requires two points of…
Adhesion-dependent cells actively sense the mechanical properties of their environment through mechanotransductory processes at focal adhesions, which are integrin-based contacts connecting the extracellular matrix to the cytoskeleton. Here…
Biological adhesion is a critical mechanical function of complex organisms operating at multiple scales. At the cellular scale, cell-cell adhesion is remarkably tunable to enable both cohesion and malleability during development,…
Living tissue is able to withstand large stresses in everyday life, yet it also actively adapts to dynamic loads. This remarkable mechanical behaviour emerges from the interplay between living cells and their non-living extracellular…
We review theoretical results for the adhesion-induced phase behavior of biomembranes. The focus is on models in which the membranes are represented as discretized elastic sheets with embedded adhesion molecules. We present several…
Biological tissue integrity is actively maintained by cells. It is essential to comprehend how cells accomplish this in order to stage tissue diseases. However, addressing the complexity of a cell's system of interrelated mechanisms poses a…
In tissue development, wound healing, and cancer invasion, coordinated cell motion arises from active forces produced by the cells. The relationship between force and motion remains unclear, however, because the forces result from a sum of…
Interactions between crawling cells, which are essential for many biological processes, can be quantified by measuring cell-cell collisions. Conventionally, experiments of cell-cell collisions are conducted on two-dimensional flat…
Cells are known to sense and respond to their mechanical microenvironment in profound ways. Various evidence has implicated the adhesome, a body of adhesion associated proteins, in several cell fate decisions, including differentiation and…
Mesoscale molecular assemblies on the cell surface, such as cilia and filopodia, integrate information, control transport and amplify signals. Synthetic devices mimicking these structures could sensitively monitor these cellular functions…
In tissue engineering, 3D scaffolds and chemical treatments are often used for providing a cell-friendly surface for improving cell adhesion and tissue growth. Indeed, the cell adhesion degree can be controlled by physical-chemical changes…
Mechanical coupling between a cell and substrate relies on focal adhesions, clusters of adhesion proteins linking stress fibers (bundles of actin proteins) inside the cell with surrounding tissue. Focal adhesions have been demonstrated to…
Cell migration is essential for regulating many biological processes in physiological or pathological conditions, including embryonic development and cancer invasion. In vitro and in silico studies suggest that collective cell migration is…