TY - JOUR
T1 - Elastic Anisotropy Governs the Range of Cell-Induced Displacements
AU - Goren, Shahar
AU - Koren, Yoni
AU - Xu, Xinpeng
AU - Lesman, Ayelet
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Biophysical Society
PY - 2020/3/10
Y1 - 2020/3/10
N2 - The unique nonlinear mechanics of the fibrous extracellular matrix (ECM) facilitates long-range cell-cell mechanical communications that would be impossible for linear elastic substrates. Past research has described the contribution of two separated effects on the range of force transmission, including ECM elastic nonlinearity and fiber alignment. However, the relation between these different effects is unclear, and how they combine to dictate force transmission range is still elusive. Here, we combine discrete fiber simulations with continuum modeling to study the decay of displacements induced by a contractile cell in fibrous networks. We demonstrate that fiber nonlinearity and fiber reorientation both contribute to the strain-induced elastic anisotropy of the cell's local environment. This elastic anisotropy is a “lumped” parameter that governs the slow decay of displacements, and it depends on the magnitude of applied strain, either an external tension or an internal contraction, as a model of the cell. Furthermore, we show that accounting for artificially prescribed elastic anisotropy dictates the decay of displacements induced by a contracting cell. Our findings unify previous single effects into a mechanical theory that explains force transmission in fibrous networks. This work may provide insights into biological processes that involve communication of distant cells mediated by the ECM, such as those occurring in morphogenesis, wound healing, angiogenesis, and cancer metastasis. It may also provide design parameters for biomaterials to control force transmission between cells as a way to guide morphogenesis in tissue engineering.
AB - The unique nonlinear mechanics of the fibrous extracellular matrix (ECM) facilitates long-range cell-cell mechanical communications that would be impossible for linear elastic substrates. Past research has described the contribution of two separated effects on the range of force transmission, including ECM elastic nonlinearity and fiber alignment. However, the relation between these different effects is unclear, and how they combine to dictate force transmission range is still elusive. Here, we combine discrete fiber simulations with continuum modeling to study the decay of displacements induced by a contractile cell in fibrous networks. We demonstrate that fiber nonlinearity and fiber reorientation both contribute to the strain-induced elastic anisotropy of the cell's local environment. This elastic anisotropy is a “lumped” parameter that governs the slow decay of displacements, and it depends on the magnitude of applied strain, either an external tension or an internal contraction, as a model of the cell. Furthermore, we show that accounting for artificially prescribed elastic anisotropy dictates the decay of displacements induced by a contracting cell. Our findings unify previous single effects into a mechanical theory that explains force transmission in fibrous networks. This work may provide insights into biological processes that involve communication of distant cells mediated by the ECM, such as those occurring in morphogenesis, wound healing, angiogenesis, and cancer metastasis. It may also provide design parameters for biomaterials to control force transmission between cells as a way to guide morphogenesis in tissue engineering.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078542315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.12.033
DO - 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.12.033
M3 - 文章
C2 - 31995739
AN - SCOPUS:85078542315
SN - 0006-3495
VL - 118
SP - 1152
EP - 1164
JO - Biophysical Journal
JF - Biophysical Journal
IS - 5
ER -
