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Cited by 190Cellular Mechanics and InteractionsForce Microscopy Techniques and ApplicationsAdvanced Materials and Mechanics

Scaling of Traction Forces with the Size of Cohesive Cell Colonies

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Mertz, Aaron F., Banerjee, Shiladitya, Che, Yonglu, German, Guy K., Xu, Ye, Hyland, Callen, Marchetti, M. Cristina, Horsley, Valerie +1 more·2012·Physical Review Letters
DOI 10.1103/physrevlett.108.198101PMC PMC4098718
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Abstract

To understand how the mechanical properties of tissues emerge from interactions of multiple cells, we measure traction stresses of cohesive colonies of 1-27 cells adherent to soft substrates. We find that traction stresses are generally localized at the periphery of the colony and the total traction force scales with the colony radius. For large colony sizes, the scaling appears to approach linear, suggesting the emergence of an apparent surface tension of the order of 10(-3) N/m. A simple model of the cell colony as a contractile elastic medium coupled to the substrate captures the spatial distribution of traction forces and the scaling of traction forces with the colony size.

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  • Traction scales directly with keratinocyte spread area.

    “The magnitudes of these two tensions, T21 and T12, were divided by the spread area, K2 or K1, of cell 2 or cell 1, respectively, because traction scales directly with keratinocyte spread area64.”

    From E-cadherin integrates mechanotransduction and EGFR signaling to control junctional tissue polarization and tight junction positioning (2017) · cites this paper as [64]

    The paper defines colony radius as the radius of a disk with the same area, then reports that total traction force approaches linear scaling with radius for large keratinocyte colonies (Fig. 3 discussion and model; page unavailable). That is scaling with the square root of area, not directly with spread area. The paper does not establish the claimed area-proportional relationship for individual keratinocytes. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Authors
Mertz, A. F., Banerjee, S., Che, Y., German, G. K., Xu, Y., Hyland, C., Marchetti, M. C., Horsley, V., & Dufresne, E. R.
Affiliations
  • Yale University (US)
  • Syracuse University (US)
Corresponding author
Dufresne, Eric R.
ORCID
Venue
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Published
2012-05-08
Volume
108
Issue
19
Pages
198101-198101
ISSN
  • 0031-9007 (ISSN-L)
  • 1079-7114
DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.108.198101
PMC
PMC4098718
OpenAlex
W2079798883
Cited by
190
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
FWCI
7.12
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Physical Review Letters (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics › Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Advanced Materials and Mechanics
Keywords
traction force, tissue mechanics, cell-substrate interaction, soft substrates, mechanobiology
MeSH terms
Animals, Calcium Chloride, Cell Adhesion, Cell Communication, Cell Count, Culture Media, Models, Biological, Keratinocytes, Mice

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