Department of Physics, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, USA.
Biophys J. 2010 Jun 16;98(12):2794-803. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.03.026.
To function efficiently in the body, the biological cells must have the ability to sense the external environment. Mechanosensitivity toward the extracellular matrix was identified as one of the sensing mechanisms affecting cell behavior. It was shown experimentally that a fibroblast cell prefers locomoting over the stiffer substrate when given a choice between a softer and a stiffer substrate. In this article, we develop a discrete model of fibroblast motility with substrate-rigidity sensing. Our model allows us to understand the interplay between the cell-substrate sensing and the cell biomechanics. The model cell exhibits experimentally observed substrate rigidity sensing, which allows us to gain additional insights into the cell mechanosensitivity.
为了在体内高效运作，生物细胞必须具备感知外部环境的能力。对细胞外基质的机械敏感性被确定为影响细胞行为的一种传感机制。实验表明，在软质和硬质基质之间进行选择时，成纤维细胞更喜欢在较硬的基质上迁移。在本文中，我们开发了一个具有基质硬度感知功能的成纤维细胞迁移的离散模型。我们的模型使我们能够理解细胞-基质感知和细胞生物力学之间的相互作用。模型细胞表现出实验观察到的基质硬度感知，这使我们能够更深入地了解细胞的机械敏感性。
