ArticleBiophysical journal2006
A master relation defines the nonlinear viscoelasticity of single fibroblasts.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 232 citations in OpenAlex.
- Large intra-chromosome heterogeneity leads to emergent nonlinear mechanics.Nature physics · 2026Article
- Measuring the effect of repetitive stretching on the deformability of human red blood cells using optical tweezers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The role of dynamic reciprocity in 3D cell migration: connecting cell and matrix mechanics to migratory plasticity.npj biological physics and mechanics · 2025Review
- Nonlinear elasticity and short-range mechanical coupling govern the rate and symmetry of mouth opening inProceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Adjustable Thermo-Responsive, Cell-Adhesive Tissue Engineering Scaffolds for Cell Stimulation through Periodic Changes in Culture Temperature.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
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- Mechanical competition alters the cellular interpretation of an endogenous genetic program.The Journal of cell biology · 2021Article
- A hierarchical cellular structural model to unravel the universal power-law rheological behavior of living cells.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Using blinking optical tweezers to study cell rheology during initial cell-particle contact.Biophysical journal · 2021Article
- Spatial correlation of cell stiffness and traction forces in cancer cells measured with combined SICM and TFM.RSC advances · 2021Article
- Nonlinear Elastic and Inelastic Properties of Cells.Journal of biomechanical engineering · 2020Review
- Environmentally controlled magnetic nano-tweezer for living cells and extracellular matrices.Scientific reports · 2020Article
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- Mechanical Cues Affect Migration and Invasion of Cells From Three Different Directions.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2020Review
- A Combined AFM and Lateral Stretch Device Enables Microindentation Analyses of Living Cells at High Strains.Methods and protocols · 2019Article
- Mimicking Active Biopolymer Networks with a Synthetic Hydrogel.Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2019Article
- Cellular stretch reveals superelastic powers.Nature · 2018Article
- Extracellular Matrix Expression and Production in Fibroblast-Collagen Gels: Towards an In Vitro Model for Ligament Wound Healing.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2018Article
- Computational modeling of single-cell mechanics and cytoskeletal mechanobiology.Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. Systems biology and medicine · 2018Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cell mechanical functions such as locomotion, contraction, and division are controlled by the cytoskeleton, a dynamic biopolymer network whose mechanical properties remain poorly understood. We perform single-cell uniaxial stretching experiments on 3T3 fibroblasts. By superimposing small amplitude oscillations on a mechanically prestressed cell, we find a transition from linear viscoelastic behavior to power law stress stiffening. Data from different cells over several stress decades can be uniquely scaled to obtain a master relation between the viscoelastic moduli and the average force. Remarkably, this relation holds independently of deformation history, adhesion biochemistry, and intensity of active contraction. In particular, it is irrelevant whether force is actively generated by the cell or externally imposed by stretching. We propose that the master relation reflects the mechanical behavior of the force-bearing actin cytoskeleton, in agreement with stress stiffening known from semiflexible filament networks.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.