Pre-strains and buckling in mechanosensitivity of contractile cells and focal adhesions: A tensegrity model.

We demonstrate that several key aspects of the contractile activity of a cell interacting with the substrate can be captured by means of a non linear elastic tensegrity mechanical system made of a tensile element in parallel with a buckling-prone component, and exchanging forces with the surroundings through an extracellular matrix-focal adhesion complex. Mechanosensitivity of the focal adhesion plaque is triggered by pre-strain-driven buckling of the system induced either by pre-contraction or pre-polymerization of the constituents. The impact of pre-polymerization on the mechanical force and the implications of using linear and nonlinear elasticity for the focal adhesion plaque are assessed.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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