Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Walcott S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3244057 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Walcott Sam S Kim Dong-Hwee DH Wirtz Denis D Sun Sean X SX
Biophysical journal 20111220 12
A cell plated on a two-dimensional substrate forms adhesions with that surface. These adhesions, which consist of aggregates of various proteins, are thought to be important in mechanosensation, the process by which the cell senses and responds to the mechanical properties of the substrate (e.g., stiffness). On the basis of experimental measurements, we model these proteins as idealized molecules that can bind to the substrate in a strain-dependent manner and can undergo a force-dependent state ...[more]