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Scaling of Traction Forces with the Size of Cohesive Cell Colonies

Aaron F. Mertz, Shiladitya Banerjee, Yonglu Che, Guy K. German, Ye Xu (徐晔), Callen Hyland, M. Cristina Marchetti, Valerie Horsley, and Eric R. Dufresne
Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 198101 – Published 8 May 2012
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Abstract

To understand how the mechanical properties of tissues emerge from interactions of multiple cells, we measure traction stresses of cohesive colonies of 1–27 cells adherent to soft substrates. We find that traction stresses are generally localized at the periphery of the colony and the total traction force scales with the colony radius. For large colony sizes, the scaling appears to approach linear, suggesting the emergence of an apparent surface tension of the order of 103N/m. A simple model of the cell colony as a contractile elastic medium coupled to the substrate captures the spatial distribution of traction forces and the scaling of traction forces with the colony size.

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  • Received 25 December 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.198101

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Aaron F. Mertz1, Shiladitya Banerjee2, Yonglu Che1,3, Guy K. German4, Ye Xu (徐晔)4, Callen Hyland3, M. Cristina Marchetti2,5, Valerie Horsley3, and Eric R. Dufresne4,6,1,7,*

  • 1Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
  • 2Department of Physics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA
  • 3Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
  • 4Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
  • 5Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA
  • 6Department of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
  • 7Department of Cell Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA

  • *eric.dufresne@yale.edu

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Issue

Vol. 108, Iss. 19 — 11 May 2012

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