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Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Concentric Gel System to Study the Biophysical Role of Matrix Microenvironment on 3D Cell Migration
Published on: April 3, 2015
Drastic change of local stiffness distribution correlating to cell migration in living fibroblasts
M Nagayama1, H Haga, K Kawabata
1Division of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. masafumi@skws.sci.hokudai.ac.jp
Abstract:
Sequential images of the local stiffness distribution of living fibroblasts (NIH3T3) were captured under a culture condition using scanning probe microscopy in a force modulation mode. We found a clear relation between cell migration and local stiffness distribution on the cell: When cells were stationary at one position, the stiffness distribution of their cellular surface was quite stable. On the other hand, once the cells started to move, the stiffness in their nuclear regions drastically decreased. Possible explanations for the correlation between the cell migration and the cell stiffness are proposed.
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