Cell reorientation under cyclic stretching

Ariel Livne, Eran Bouchbinder, Benjamin Geiger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Mechanical cues from the extracellular microenvironment play a central role in regulating the structure, function and fate of living cells. Nevertheless, the precise nature of the mechanisms and processes underlying this crucial cellular mechanosensitivity remains a fundamental open problem. Here we provide a novel framework for addressing cellular sensitivity and response to external forces by experimentally and theoretically studying one of its most striking manifestations - cell reorientation to a uniform angle in response to cyclic stretching of the underlying substrate. We first show that existing approaches are incompatible with our extensive measurements of cell reorientation. We then propose a fundamentally new theory that shows that dissipative relaxation of the cell's passively-stored, two-dimensional, elastic energy to its minimum actively drives the reorientation process. Our theory is in excellent quantitative agreement with the complete temporal reorientation dynamics of individual cells measured over a wide range of experimental conditions, thus elucidating a basic aspect of mechanosensitivity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3938
JournalNature Communications
Volume5
DOIs
StatePublished - 29 May 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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