Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Eigenstrain As A Mechanical Set-Point Of Cells, Shengmao Lin, Marsha C. Lampi, Cynthia A. Reinhart-King, Gary C.P. Tsui, Jian Wang, Carl A. Nelson, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cell contraction regulates how cells sense their mechanical environment. We sought to identify the set-point of cell contraction, also referred to as tensional homeostasis. In this work, bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs), cultured on substrates with different stiffness, were characterized using traction force microscopy (TFM). Numerical models were developed to provide insights into the mechanics of cell–substrate interactions. Cell contraction was modeled as eigenstrain which could induce isometric cell contraction without external forces. The predicted traction stresses matched well with TFM measurements. Furthermore, our numerical model provided cell stress and displacement maps for inspecting the fundamental regulating mechanism of cell …