ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2018
Cell contraction induces long-ranged stress stiffening in the extracellular matrix.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 158 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
158 citing papers in PubMed, 300 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mechanical cues of an interpenetrating polysaccharide matrix regulate self-assembly of collagen fibers.Science advances · 2026Article
- Cellular Responses to Mechanical Cues Across Scales: From Fundamental Insights to Translational Potential.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Multiscale Architecture and Mechanics of the Cell Nucleus: Implications for Disease, Bioengineering and Nanomedicine.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Active Microrheology Reveals Distinct ECM Mechanical Signatures Induced by Stromal Cells of Different Tissue Origins during Vascular Morphogenesis.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2026Article
- 3D-Printing-Assisted, Microfabricated Devices Reveal Hierarchical and Temporal Mechanosensing in High-Density Fibroblast Culture.ACS nano · 2026Article
- An agent-based model suggests how senescent cell behavior and matrix mechanics drive pulmonary fibrosis in aged mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Scanless temporal focusing enables high-speed three-dimensional quantitative phase microscopy.Research square · 2026Article
- Investigation of mechanical forces during multicellular early angiogenic sprouting by three-dimensional traction force microscopy in hydrogel matrices.Nature protocols · 2026Review
- Scanless temporal focusing enables high-speed three-dimensional quantitative phase microscopy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The extracellular matrix in inflammation and cancer.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Membrane Tension Integrates Physical and Signaling Cues to Gate Cell Fate Transitions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mechanical communication and function regulation of immune cells.Fundamental research · 2026Review
- Guidance for 3D traction force microscopy today and in the next decade.Nature methods · 2026Review
- Compression-Tension-Asymmetry and Stiffness Nonlinearity of Collagen-Matrigel Composite Hydrogels.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Article
- Matrix influence of collagen: fibrin interpenetrating hydrogels on microvascular networks and osteogenesis.Biomaterials advances · 2026Article
- Principal mechanisms of extracellular matrix-mediated cell-cell communication in physiological and tumor microenvironments.The FEBS journal · 2026Review
- Mechanical Microenvironment in Tumor Immune Evasion: Bidirectional Regulation Between Matrix Stiffness and Immune Cells and Its Therapeutic Implications.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
- Predicting the compression mechanical properties of muscle from microscale indentation mechanics using multiscale mechanical models.Current research in food science · 2026Article
- The 3D World of Spheroids: Searching for an Optimal Method of Fabricating Pro-Reparative Cardiospheres.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Deep learning reveals how cells pull, buckle, and navigate fibrous environments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Animal cells in tissues are supported by biopolymer matrices, which typically exhibit highly nonlinear mechanical properties. While the linear elasticity of the matrix can significantly impact cell mechanics and functionality, it remains largely unknown how cells, in turn, affect the nonlinear mechanics of their surrounding matrix. Here, we show that living contractile cells are able to generate a massive stiffness gradient in three distinct 3D extracellular matrix model systems: collagen, fibrin, and Matrigel. We decipher this remarkable behavior by introducing nonlinear stress inference microscopy (NSIM), a technique to infer stress fields in a 3D matrix from nonlinear microrheology measurements with optical tweezers. Using NSIM and simulations, we reveal large long-ranged cell-generated stresses capable of buckling filaments in the matrix. These stresses give rise to the large spatial extent of the observed cell-induced matrix stiffness gradient, which can provide a mechanism for mechanical communication between cells.
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Registered trials
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.