ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2011
Quantification of the forces driving self-assembly of three-dimensional microtissues.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Mimicking lipolytic, adipogenic, and secretory capacities of human subcutaneous adipose tissue by spheroids from distinct subpopulations of adipose stromal/stem cells.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Article
- Adhesion-Based Self-Organization in Tissue Patterning.Annual review of cell and developmental biology · 2022Review
- Quantifying Cell-Derived Changes in Collagen Synthesis, Alignment, and Mechanics in a 3D Connective Tissue Model.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Spheroid-Based Tissue Engineering Strategies for Regeneration of the Intervertebral Disc.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Holding it together: when cadherin meets cadherin.Biophysical journal · 2021Review
- Colonization of distant organs by tumor cells generating circulating homotypic clusters adaptive to fluid shear stress.Scientific reports · 2021Article
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- Differential cell adhesion implemented by Drosophila Toll corrects local distortions of the anterior-posterior compartment boundary.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Injectable pre-cultured tissue modules catalyze the formation of extensive functional microvasculature in vivo.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Dynamic formation of cellular aggregates of chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells in spinner flask.Cell proliferation · 2019Article
- Force-based three-dimensional model predicts mechanical drivers of cell sorting.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
- Design Principles for Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Organoid Engineering.Stem cells international · 2019Review
- Contraction Dynamics of Rod Microtissues of Gingiva-Derived and Periodontal Ligament-Derived Cells.Frontiers in physiology · 2018Article
- Adhesion forces and cortical tension couple cell proliferation and differentiation to drive epidermal stratification.Nature cell biology · 2018Article
- Pick-and-Place Operation of Single Cell Using Optical and Electrical Measurements for Robust Manipulation.Micromachines · 2017Article
- Liquid Marble as Bioreactor for Engineering Three-Dimensional Toroid Tissues.Scientific reports · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
In a nonadhesive environment, cells will self-assemble into microtissues, a process relevant to tissue engineering. Although this has been recognized for some time, there is no basis for quantitative characterization of this complex process. Here we describe a recently developed assay designed to quantify aspects of the process and discuss its application in comparing behaviors between cell types. Cells were seeded in nonadhesive micromolded wells, each well with a circular trough at its base formed by the cylindrical sidewalls and by a central peg in the form of a right circular cone. Cells settled into the trough and coalesced into a toroid, which was then driven up the conical peg by the forces of self-assembly. The mass of the toroid and its rate of upward movement were used to calculate the cell power expended in the process against gravity. The power of the toroid was found to be 0.31 ± 0.01 pJ/h and 4.3 ± 1.7 pJ/h for hepatocyte cells and fibroblasts, respectively. Blocking Rho kinase by means of Y-27632 resulted in a 50% and greater reduction in power expended by each type of toroid, indicating that cytoskeletal-mediated contraction plays a significant role in the self-assembly of both cell types. Whereas the driving force for self-assembly has often been viewed as the binding of surface proteins, these data show that cellular contraction is important for cell-cell adhesion. The power measurement quantifies the contribution of cell contraction, and will be useful for understanding the concerted action of the mechanisms that drive self-assembly.
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