A Computational Model of Cell-Substrate Interaction in Three Dimensions
by
Magdalena Stolarska
University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul, MN, 55105
Coauthors: Hans G. Othmer, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, othmer@math.umn.edu

Mechanical interactions between a cell and the substrate are vital for cell migration and are involved

in various cellular processes, such as wound healing, embryonic development, and metastasis of cancerous

tumors. In addition, experiments have shown that inter-cellular and cell-substrate mechanical interactions

affect signal transduction pathways within the cell (see for example [1, 2, 3]). As a result, understanding the

nature of force generation by single cells and mechanical interaction of a cell with the substrate is extremely

important.

In this talk, we present a continuum model of single cell motility in which the stresses that result from

the active deformation of the cell are transmitted to a substrate via controlled adhesion sites. We propose to

use large strain viscoelasticity to describe this mechanism and study cell-substrate interactions. Both the cell

and the substrate are treated as three-dimensional deformable continua. A finite element implementation of

this model is used to numerically examine the nature of the stresses generated by the cell and the resulting

traction patterns that occur at the substrate. The simulations are compared to experimental results where

predictions about the stresses in the cell are based on measured deformations of the substrate on which the

cell is crawling [4, 5, 6].

References

[1] P.A. Janmey and D.A. Wietz. Dealing with mechanics: mechanisms of force transduction in cells.

Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 29:364–370, 2004.

[2] V. Lecausey and D. Gilmour. Organizing moving groups during morphogenesis. Current Opinions in

Cell Biology, 18:102–107, 2006.

[3] A. Bershadsky, M. Kozlov, and B. Geiger. Adhesion-mediated mechanosensitivity: a time to experiment,

and a time to theorize. Current Opinions in Cell Biology, 18:472–481, 2006.

[4] J. Lee, M. Leonard, T. Oliver, A. Ishihara, and K. Jacobson. Traction forces generated by locomoting

keratocytes. The Journal of Cell Biology, 127:1957–1964, 1994.

[5] S. Munevar, Y.-L. Wang, and M. Dembo. Traction force microscopy of migrating normal and h-ras

transformed 3T3 fibroblasts. Biophysical Journal, 80:1744–1757, 2001.

[6] K.S.K Uchida, T. Kitanishi-Yumura, and S. Yumura. Myosin II contributes to the posterior contraction

and the anterior extension during the retraction phase in migrating dictyostelium cells. Journal of Cell

Science, 116:51–60, 2003.

PDF

Date received: April 24, 2008