ArticleEuropean biophysics journal : EBJ2016
Substrate elasticity regulates the behavior of human monocyte-derived macrophages.
Article in European biophysics journal : EBJ, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 135 citations in OpenAlex.
- Carbon-based two-dimensional nanomaterials (CB-2DMs) for high-performance wound healing platforms bridging mechanics and medicine.Discover nano · 2026Review
- Macrophage-Fibroblast Crosstalk in Kidney Injury: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Mechanobiology of orofacial tissues: principles, mechanisms, and therapeutic applications.International journal of oral science · 2026Review
- Chromatin decompaction within the nucleus increases plasma membrane tension promoting NETosis execution, independently of transcription.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Long-term remodeling of compliance matched tissue engineered vascular grafts is sex specific.Acta biomaterialia · 2026Article
- Engineering macrophages for cancer immunotherapy: emerging insights and therapeutic potential.npj biomedical innovations · 2026Review
- Mechanoresponsive reprogramming of tumor-associated macrophages during cancer progression.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Extracellular matrices regulate extravasation journey of leukocytes and inflammatory tissue fate.eLife · 2025Review
- Topography-based implants for bone regeneration: Design, biological mechanism, and therapeutics.Materials today. Bio · 2025Review
- Mechanical cues orchestrate monocyte behavior in immune regulation and disease.APL bioengineering · 2025Review
- A crosstalk between adhesion and phagocytosis integrates macrophage functions into their microenvironment.iScience · 2025Article
- An injectable oleogel-based bupivacaine formulation for prolonged non-opioid post-operative analgesia.Drug delivery and translational research · 2025Article
- CaMKK2 Regulates Macrophage Polarization Induced by Matrix Stiffness: Implications for Shaping the Immune Response in Stiffened Tissues.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Advanced Immunomodulatory Biomaterials for Therapeutic Applications.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Review
- Research progress on the role of biomechanical clues in the progression of lung cancer.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Mechanosensitivity of macrophage polarization: comparing small molecule leukadherin-1 to substrate stiffness.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- The influence of biophysical niche on tumor-associated macrophages in liver cancer.Hepatology communications · 2024Review
- Acute contact with profibrotic macrophages mechanically activates fibroblasts via αvβ3 integrin-mediated engagement of Piezo1.Science advances · 2024Article
- Novel 3-D Macrophage Spheroid Model Reveals Reciprocal Regulation of Immunomechanical Stress and Mechano-Immunological Response.Cellular and molecular bioengineering · 2024Article
- Cyclic stretch enhances neutrophil extracellular trap formation.BMC biology · 2024Article
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Macrophages play a key role in atherosclerosis, cancer, and in the response to implanted medical devices. In each of these situations, the mechanical environment of a macrophage can vary from soft to stiff. However, how stiffness affects macrophage behavior remains uncertain. Using substrates of varying stiffness, we show macrophage phenotype and function depends on substrate stiffness. Notably, the cell area increases slightly from a sphere after 18 h on substrates mimicking healthy arterial stiffness (1-5 kPa), whereas macrophages on stiffer substrates (280 kPa-70 GPa) increased in area by nearly eight-fold. Macrophage migration is random regardless of substrate stiffness. The total average track speed was 7.8 ± 0.5 μm/h, with macrophages traveling fastest on the 280-kPa substrate (12.0 ± 0.5 μm/h) and slowest on the 3-kPa substrate (5.0 ± 0.4 μm/h). In addition F-actin organization in macrophages depends on substrate stiffness. On soft substrates, F-actin is spread uniformly throughout the cytoplasm, whereas on stiff substrates F-actin is functionalized into stress fibers. The proliferation rate of macrophages was faster on stiff substrates. Cells plated on the 280-kPa gel had a significantly shorter doubling time than those plated on the softer substrate. However, the ability of macrophages to phagocytose 1-μm particles did not depend on substrate stiffness. In conclusion, the results herein show macrophages are mechanosensitive; they respond to changes in stiffness by modifying their area, migration speed, actin organization, and proliferation rate. These results are important to understanding how macrophages respond in complex mechanical environments such as an atherosclerotic plaque.
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