Mechanobiological induction of long-range contractility by diffusing biomolecules and size scaling in cell assemblies

Area of Science:

• Cellular mechanobiology
• Biochemical signaling
• Theoretical biophysics

Background:

• Mechanobiological studies typically use identical cells.
• Understanding cell assembly responses to external stimuli is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To theoretically predict the effects of locally introduced biochemical signals on cell assemblies.
• To investigate the resulting inhomogeneous concentration and contractility profiles.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical modeling of biochemical signal diffusion.
• Analysis of induced cytoskeletal contractility in cell assemblies.
• Incorporation of elastic interactions between contractile cells.

Main Results:

• Local signals induce inhomogeneous concentration and contractility profiles in cell assemblies.
• A characteristic length scale, potentially system-wide, emerges.
• Long-range effects are driven by cell elastic interactions and nonlinear signal diffusion.

Conclusions:

• The theory predicts emergent long-range order in cell assemblies due to localized biochemical input.
• Model experiments are proposed to validate findings.
• Potential applications in understanding developmental biology, such as morphogen gradients, are highlighted.