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Growth cones of elongating neurites exert force against the external environment, but little is known about the role of force in outgrowth or its relationship to the mechanical organization of neurons. We used traction force microscopy to examine patterns of force in growth cones of regenerating Aplysia bag cell neurons. We find that traction is highest in the peripheral actin-rich domain and internal stress reaches a plateau near the transition between peripheral and central microtubule-rich domains. Integrating stress over the area of the growth cone reveals that total scalar force increases with area but net tension on the neurite does not. Tensions fall within a limited range while a substantial fraction of the total force can be balanced locally within the growth cone. Although traction continuously redistributes during extension and retraction of the peripheral domain, tension is stable over time, suggesting that tension is a tightly regulated property of the neurite independent of growth cone dynamics. We observe that redistribution of traction in the peripheral domain can reorient the end of the neurite shaft. This suggests a role for off-axis force in growth cone turning and neuronal guidance., Scientific Reports, 4, ISSN:2045-2322

We have investigated Aplysia hemolymph as a source of endogenous factors to promote regeneration of bag cell neurons. We describe a novel synergistic effect between substrate-bound hemolymph proteins and laminin. This combination increased outgrowth and branching relative to either laminin or hemolymph alone. Notably, the addition of hemolymph to laminin substrates accelerated growth cone migration rate over ten-fold. Our results indicate that the active factor is either a high molecular weight protein or protein complex and is not the respiratory protein hemocyanin. Substrate-bound factor(s) from central nervous system-conditioned media also had a synergistic effect with laminin, suggesting a possible cooperation between humoral proteins and nervous system extracellular matrix. Further molecular characterization of active factors and their cellular targets is warranted on account of the magnitude of the effects reported here and their potential relevance for nervous system repair., Scientific Reports, 4, ISSN:2045-2322

Johnson-Kendall-Robert (JKR) theory is the basis of modern contact mechanics. It describes how two deformable objects adhere together, driven by adhesion energy and opposed by elasticity. However, it does not include solid surface tension, which also opposes adhesion by acting to flatten the surface of soft solids. We tested JKR theory to see if solid surface tension affects indentation behaviour. Using confocal microscopy, we characterised the indentation of glass particles into soft, silicone substrates. While JKR theory held for particles larger than a critical, elastocapillary lengthscale, it failed for smaller particles. Instead, adhesion of small particles mimicked the adsorption of particles at a fluid interface, with a size-independent contact angle between the undeformed surface and the particle given by a generalised version of Young's law. A simple theory quantitatively captures this behaviour, and explains how solid surface tension dominates elasticity for small-scale indentation of soft materials., 6 pages, 5 figures

Numerous cell types have shown a remarkable ability to detect and move along gradients in stiffness of an underlying substrate—a process known as durotaxis. The mechanisms underlying durotaxis are still unresolved, but generally believed to involve active sensing and locomotion. Here, we show that simple liquid droplets also undergo durotaxis. By modulating substrate stiffness, we obtain fine control of droplet position on soft, flat substrates. Unlike other control mechanisms, droplet durotaxis works without imposing chemical, thermal, electrical, or topographical gradients. We show that droplet durotaxis can be used to create large-scale droplet patterns and is potentially useful for many applications, such as microfluidics, thermal control, and microfabrication.

Colloidal coatings, such as paint, are all around us. However, we know little about the mechanics of the film-forming process because the composition and properties of drying coatings vary dramatically in space and time. To surmount this challenge, we extend traction force microscopy to quantify the spatial distribution of all three components of the stress at the interface of two materials. We apply this approach to image stress near the tip of a propagating interface crack in a drying colloidal coating and extract the stress intensity factor.