Intercellular Adhesion Stiffness Moderates Cell Decoupling as a Function of Substrate Stiffness.

ABSTRACT: The interplay between cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions is complex yet necessary for the formation and healthy functioning of tissues. The same mechanosensing mechanisms used by the cell to sense its extracellular matrix also play a role in intercellular interactions. We used the discrete element method to develop a computational model of a deformable cell that includes subcellular components responsible for mechanosensing. We modeled a three-dimensional cell pair on a patterned (two-dimensional) substrate, a simple laboratory setup to study intercellular interactions. We explicitly modeled focal adhesions and adherens junctions. These mechanosensing adhesions matured, becoming stabilized by force. We also modeled contractile stress fibers that bind the discrete adhesions. The mech

SUBMITTER: Vargas DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7376095 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature