Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26206449›Full record

ArticleBiomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology2016

Relationship between cell stiffness and stress fiber amount, assessed by simultaneous atomic force microscopy and live-cell fluorescence imaging.

Núria Gavara, Richard S Chadwick

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
80citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

80 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 160 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Changes in Tissue Fluidity Predict Tumor Aggressiveness In Vivo.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. A novel role for TRPV1 in macrophage giant cell formation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. The Baraitser-Winter Cerebrofrontofacial Syndrome Recurrent R196H Variant in Cytoplasmic β-Actin Impairs Its Cellular Polymerization and Stability.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. TRPV4-Mediated Mechanosensing Regulates the Endothelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition: Implications for Atherosclerosis.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Article
  10. Hypoxia Modulates Membrane Mechanics in Pancreatic Cancer.The Journal of membrane biology · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Characterization of cellular wound resistance in the giant ciliatebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Núria GavaraSchool of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 3NS, UK. n.gavara@qmul.ac.uk.
Richard S ChadwickAuditory Mechanics Section, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Building 10 Rm. 5D49, 10 Center Drive, MSC-1417, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
National Institutes of Health · US

Funding

Biomechanics Of Cochlear Fine TuningZIADC000033 · NIDCD · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS · PI CHADWICK, RICHARD S. · 2009 to 2019
$8.4M
BIOMECHANICS OF COCHLEAR FINE TUNINGZ01DC000033 · NIDCD · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS · PI CHADWICK, RICHARD S. · 1996 to 2008
$1.2M
Intramural NIH HHS Z01 DC000033
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Actomyosin stress fibers, one of the main components of the cell's cytoskeleton, provide mechanical stability to adherent cells by applying and transmitting tensile forces onto the extracellular matrix (ECM) at the sites of cell-ECM adhesion. While it is widely accepted that changes in spatial and temporal distribution of stress fibers affect the cell's mechanical properties, there is no quantitative knowledge on how stress fiber amount and organization directly modulate cell stiffness. We address this key open question by combining atomic force microscopy with simultaneous fluorescence imaging of living cells, and combine for the first time reliable quantitative parameters obtained from both techniques. We show that the amount of myosin and (to a lesser extent) actin assembled in stress fibers directly modulates cell stiffness in adherent mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3). In addition, the spatial distribution of stress fibers has a second-order modulatory effect. In particular, the presence of either fibers located in the cell periphery, aligned fibers or thicker fibers gives rise to reinforced cell stiffness. Our results provide basic and significant information that will help design optimal protocols to regulate the mechanical properties of adherent cells via pharmacological interventions that alter stress fiber assembly or via micropatterning techniques that restrict stress fiber spatial organization.

Indexed as

ActomyosinAnimalsBiomechanical PhenomenaCell NucleusCell SurvivalCytoskeletonElastic ModulusFibroblastsGreen Fluorescent ProteinsMiceMicroscopy, Atomic ForceMicroscopy, FluorescenceMyosinsNIH 3T3 CellsStress FibersTransfectionActomyosinGreen Fluorescent ProteinsMyosinsActomyosinAtomic force microscopyCell mechanicsCytoskeletonImage processing and quantificationStress fibers

Identifiers

PMID26206449
PMCPMC4869747
OpenAlexW2135283449

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.