A Tensegrity Model of Cell Reorientation on Cyclically Stretched Substrates

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Biology
• Mechanobiology

Background:

• Cellular sensitivity to mechanical microenvironments is vital for physiological and pathological processes like stem cell differentiation and cancer metastasis.
• Understanding these mechanosensing mechanisms is crucial for advancing regenerative medicine and cancer research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a cytoskeletal tensegrity model for analyzing the reorientation of polarized cells under biaxial cyclic deformation.
• To investigate the role of previously neglected lateral structural elements in cellular orientation.

Main Methods:

• Developed a tensegrity model comprising bars (stress fibers, actin network) and strings (microfilaments).
• Simulated cell behavior under biaxial cyclic substrate deformation.
• Analyzed the influence of geometric and elastic properties of tensegrity elements, and deformation parameters (frequency, biaxial ratio) on cell orientation.

Main Results:

• The model highlights the critical role of lateral bars in regulating cell orientation, a factor often overlooked in prior models.
• Cellular orientation is quantitatively predictable based on tensegrity element properties and deformation characteristics.
• The model accurately reproduces experimental observations, including an exponential scaling law for cell reorientation dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Cytoskeletal tensegrity models provide a robust framework for understanding cellular responses to mechanical stimuli.
• This approach can guide the engineering of sophisticated cellular mechanosensing systems.
• The findings have implications for controlling cell behavior in various biological and biomedical applications.