Related papers: A practical review on the measurement tools for ce…

For various species of biological cells, experimental observations indicate the existence of universal distributions of the cellular size, scaling relations between the cell-size moments and simple rules for the cell-size control. We…

Quantifying the outcomes of cells collisions is a crucial step in building the foundations of a kinetic theory of living matter. Here, we develop a mechanical theory of such collisions by first representing individual cells as extended…

The ability of cells to sense and respond to the mechanical properties of their environments is fundamental to a range of cellular behaviours, with substrate stiffness increasingly being found to be a key signalling factor. Although active…

We consider a theoretical model for membranes with adhesive receptors, or stickers, that are actively switched between two conformational states. In their 'on'-state, the stickers bind to ligands in an apposing membrane, whereas they do not…

It is established that the mechanical properties of hydrogels control the fate of (stem) cells. However, despite its importance, a one-to-one correspondence between gels' stiffness and cell behaviour is still missing from literature. In…

The mechanosensitivity of cells, which determines how they are able to respond to mechanical signals received from their environment, is crucial for the functioning of all biological systems. In experiments, cells placed on cyclically…

Many cellular processes involve information processing and decision making. We can probe these processes at increasing molecular detail. The analysis of heterogeneous data remains a challenge that requires new ways of thinking about cells…

Adhering cells actively probe the mechanical properties of their environment and use the resulting information to position and orient themselves. We show that a large body of experimental observations can be consistently explained from one…

The nucleus of eukaryotic cells typically makes up around 30% of the cell volume and has significantly different mechanics, which can make it effectively up to ten times stiffer than the surrounding cytoplasm. Therefore it is an important…

The development of complex multicellular organisms from a single parent cell is a highly orchestrated process that cells conduct collectively without central guidance, creating intricate dynamic patterns essential for development and…

Tuning of active prestress e.g. through activity of molecular motors constitutes a powerful cellular tool to adjust cellular stiffness through nonlinear material properties. Understanding this tool is an important prerequisite for our…

Current efforts in the biomedical sciences and related interdisciplinary fields are focused on gaining a molecular understanding of health and disease, which is a problem of daunting complexity that spans many orders of magnitude in…

Cells coexist together in colonies or as tissues. Their behaviour is controlled by an interplay between intercellular forces and biochemical regulation. We develop a simple model of the cell cycle, the fundamental regulatory network…

Tumor development is characterized by a compromised balance between cell life and death decision mechanisms, which are tighly regulated in normal cells. Understanding this process provides insights for developing new treatments for fighting…

Multicellular systems play a key role in bioprocess and biomedical engineering. Cell ensembles encountered in these setups show phenotypic variability like size and biochemical composition. As this variability may result in undesired…

Understanding cancer cell differentiation is essential for advancing its detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Mathematical models significantly contribute to this by providing a theoretical framework to understand the complex interactions…

We introduce a model for describing the dynamics of large numbers of interacting cells. The fundamental dynamical variables in the model are sub-cellular elements, which interact with each other through phenomenological intra- and…

Simulations of tethered cells in viscous sub-layers are frequently performed using the Stokes drag force, but without taking into account contributions from surface corrections, lift forces, buoyancy, the Basset force, the cells finite…

Mechanical cues like the rigidity of the substrate are main determinants for the decision making of adherent cells. Here we use a mechano-chemical model to predict the cellular response to varying substrate stiffness. The model equations…

Accurate assessment of stiffness distribution is essential due to the critical role of single cell mechanobiology in the regulation of many vital cellular processes such as proliferation, adhesion, migration, and motility. Cell stiffness is…