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Probing the mechanosensitivity in cell adhesion and migration: Experiments and modeling

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Abstract

Cell adhesion and migration are basic physiological processes in living organisms. Cells can actively probe their mechanical micro-environment and respond to the external stimuli through cell adhesion. Cells need to move to the targeting place to perform function via cell migration. For adherent cells, cell migration is mediated by cell-matrix adhesion and cell-cell adhesion. Experimental approaches, especially at early stage of investigation, are indispensable to studies of cell mechanics when even qualitative behaviors of cell as well as fundamental factors in cell behaviors are unclear. Currently, there is increasingly accumulation of experimental data of measurement, thus a quantitative formulation of cell behaviors and the relationship among these fundamental factors are highly needed. This quantitative understanding should be crucial to tissue engineering and biomedical engineering when people want to accurately regulate or control cell behaviors from single cell level to tissue level. In this review, we will elaborate recent advances in the experimental and theoretical studies on cell adhesion and migration, with particular focuses laid on recent advances in experimental techniques and theoretical modeling, through which challenging problems in the cell mechanics are suggested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomechanics and Biomaterials Laboratory, School of Aerospace Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, Beijing, China

    Bao-Hua Ji & Bo Huo

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  1. Bao-Hua Ji
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  2. Bo Huo
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Correspondence to Bao-Hua Ji or Bo Huo.

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The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11221202 and 11025208) and the State Key Laboratory of Explosive Science and Technology of Beijing Institute of Technology (YBKT12-05).

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Ji, BH., Huo, B. Probing the mechanosensitivity in cell adhesion and migration: Experiments and modeling. Acta Mech Sin 29, 469–484 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10409-013-0065-7

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