ArticleBiophysical journal2022
Epithelial cells fluidize upon adhesion but display mechanical homeostasis in the adherent state.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Direct mechanical communication of cellular to nuclear shapes in oocytes.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Plectin affects cell viscoelasticity at small and large deformations.Biophysical journal · 2026Article
- Mitophagy in kidney and lung epithelial cells: molecular mechanisms, crosstalk, and therapeutic interventions.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Tissue tension of planar, free standing cell monolayers measured by central deformation.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- A feedback circuitry involving γ-actin, β-actin and nonmuscle myosin-2 A controls tight junction and apical cortex mechanics.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Monitoring the mass, eigenfrequency, and quality factor of mammalian cells.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Cytosolic actin isoforms form networks with different rheological properties that indicate specific biological function.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Epithelial cells sacrifice excess area to preserve fluidity in response to external mechanical stress.Communications biology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Atomic force microscopy is used to study the viscoelastic properties of epithelial cells in three different states. Force relaxation data are acquired from cells in suspension, adhered but single cells, and polarized cells in a confluent monolayer using different indenter geometries comprising flat bars, pyramidal cones, and spheres. We found that the fluidity of cells increased substantially from the suspended to the adherent state. Along this line, the prestress of suspended cells generated by cortical contractility is also greater than that of cells adhering to a surface. Polarized cells that are part of a confluent monolayer form an apical cap that is soft and fluid enough to respond rapidly to mechanical challenges from wounding, changes in the extracellular matrix, osmotic stress, and external deformation. In contrast to adherent cells, cells in the suspended state show a pronounced dependence of fluidity on the external areal strain. With increasing areal strain, the suspended cells become softer and more fluid. We interpret the results in terms of cytoskeletal remodeling that softens cells in the adherent state to facilitate adhesion and spreading by relieving internal active stress. However, once the cells spread on the surface they maintain their mechanical phenotype displaying viscoelastic homeostasis.
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