Cells can sense their environment by applying and responding to mechanical forces, yet how these forces are transmitted through the cell's cytoskeleton is largely unknown. Now, a combination of experiments and computer simulations shows how forces applied to the cell cortex are synergistically shared by motor proteins and crosslinkers.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Live-single-cell phenotypic cancer biomarkers-future role in precision oncology?
npj Precision Oncology Open Access 15 June 2017
-
Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation
Nature Communications Open Access 13 March 2017
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Fletcher, D. A. & Mullins, R. D. Nature 463, 485–492 (2010).
Parekh, S. H., Chaudhuri, O., Theriot, J. A. & Fletcher, D. A. Nature Cell Biol. 7, 1219–1223 (2005).
Kohler, S., Schaller, V. & Bausch, A. R. Nature Mater. 10, 462–468 (2011).
Hoffman, B. D., Grashoff, C. & Schwartz, M. A. Nature 475, 316–323 (2011).
Schwarz, U. S. & Gardel, M. L. J. Cell Sci. 125, 3051–3060 (2012).
Luo, T., Mohan, K., Iglesias, P. A. & Robinson, D. R. Nature Mater. 12, 1064–1071 (2013).
Swift, J. et al. Science 341, 1240104 (2013).
Bausch, A. R. & Kroy, K. Nature Phys. 2, 231–238 (2006).
Fletcher, D. & Geissler, P. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 60, 469–486 (2009).
MacKintosh, F. C. & Schmidt, C. F. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 22, 29–35 (2010).
Hochmuth, R. M. J. Biomech. 33, 15–22 (2000).
Merkel, R. et al. Biophys. J. 79, 707–719 (2000).
Evans, E. & Yeung, A. Biophys. J. 56, 151–160 (1989).
Yeung, A. & Evans, E. Biophys. J. 56, 139–149 (1989).
Schwarz, U. S. & Safran, S. A. Rev. Mod. Phys. 85, 1327–1381 (2013).
Grashoff, C. et al. Nature 466, 263–266 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bausch, A., Schwarz, U. Sharing the force. Nature Mater 12, 948–949 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3791
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3791
This article is cited by
-
Live-single-cell phenotypic cancer biomarkers-future role in precision oncology?
npj Precision Oncology (2017)
-
Photothermally triggered actuation of hybrid materials as a new platform for in vitro cell manipulation
Nature Communications (2017)
-
A discrete approach for modeling cell–matrix adhesions
Computational Particle Mechanics (2014)