Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, United States of America. Physical Sciences in Oncology Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD, United States of America.
Rep Prog Phys. 2017 Mar;80(3):036601. doi: 10.1088/1361-6633/aa5282. Epub 2017 Jan 27.
Under the microscope, eukaryotic animal cells can adopt a variety of different shapes and sizes. These cells also move and deform, and the physical mechanisms driving these movements and shape changes are important in fundamental cell biology, tissue mechanics, as well as disease biology. This article reviews some of the basic mechanical concepts in cells, emphasizing continuum mechanics description of cytoskeletal networks and hydrodynamic flows across the cell membrane. We discuss how cells can generate movement and shape changes by controlling mass fluxes at the cell boundary. These mass fluxes can come from polymerization/depolymerization of actin cytoskeleton, as well as osmotic and hydraulic pressure-driven flow of water across the cell membrane. By combining hydraulic pressure control with force balance conditions at the cell surface, we discuss a quantitative mechanism of cell shape and volume control. The broad consequences of this model on cell mechanosensation and tissue mechanics are outlined.
在显微镜下，真核动物细胞可以采用各种不同的形状和大小。这些细胞还会运动和变形，而驱动这些运动和形状变化的物理机制在基础细胞生物学、组织力学以及疾病生物学中都很重要。本文回顾了细胞中的一些基本力学概念，重点介绍了细胞骨架网络的连续介质力学描述和细胞膜上的流体动力学流动。我们讨论了细胞如何通过控制细胞边界处的质量通量来产生运动和形状变化。这些质量通量可以来自肌动蛋白细胞骨架的聚合/解聚，以及跨细胞膜的渗透压和水力驱动的水流。通过将液压控制与细胞表面的力平衡条件相结合，我们讨论了一种定量的细胞形状和体积控制机制。该模型对细胞机械感知和组织力学的广泛影响也进行了概述。
