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Updated: Jan 30, 2026
15:43
Experimental Generation of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts CAFs from Human Mammary Fibroblasts
Published on: October 25, 2011
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Fibrillar force generation by fibroblasts depends on formin
Mohamad Eftekharjoo1, Dakota Palmer2, Breanna McCoy3
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
|January 21, 2019
Summary
Fibrillar fibroblasts exert similar traction forces regardless of cell length or micro-environmental stiffness. Actin dynamics, influenced by formin, affect force but not migration in these ECM models.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
- Materials Science
Background:
- Fibroblasts in the extracellular matrix (ECM) adopt a fibrillar geometry.
- The forces exerted by these fibrillar fibroblasts and their response to micro-environmental stiffness are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the traction forces exerted by fibrillar fibroblasts.
- To determine how micro-environmental stiffness affects these forces.
- To explore the role of actin dynamics in fibroblast force exertion and migration.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an in vitro model of fibroblasts cultured on fibronectin lines micropatterned on polyacrylamide gels.
- Quantified traction forces using strain energy and maximum traction stress measurements.
- Assessed the impact of formin inhibition on actin structures, force exertion, and cell migration.
Main Results:
- Traction force was independent of fibroblast cell length.
- Strain energy and maximum traction stress were similar across low (13 kPa) and high (45 kPa) micro-environmental stiffness.
- Inhibition of formin nucleators reduced traction forces but did not affect cell migration.
Conclusions:
- Fibrillar fibroblast migration in soft microenvironments is not solely dependent on high cellular force exertion.
- Actin structures, particularly those involving formin, play a significant role in generating cellular forces.
- Cellular mechanics in the ECM are complex and influenced by both cell morphology and micro-environmental properties.
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