Mechanics and Computation / View source

for Mechanical Signaling in Cells and Tissues

A common feature of many diseased tissues such as fibrotic lesions and solid tumors is that they are stiffer than the normal tissue in which they arise and have increased interstitial fluid pressures.  These physical changes, which often involve increased synthesis and crosslinking of extracellular matrix proteins, can lead to deleterious changes in mechanosensitive cells.  Many cell types are sensitive to mechanical signals that are produced either by application of exogenous force to their surfaces or by the resistance that their surroundings place on forces generated by the cells themselves.  The elastic modulus of soft tissues is strongly affected by deformation due to increased pressure in a manner that is opposite to the response of reconstituted extracellular matrix proteins in vitro.  Defining the mechanisms of such non-linear elastic effects as compression-stiffening in tissues but compression-softening in polymer networks can help define the molecular features that determine soft tissue mechanics and its alteration in disease.

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