4 Conclusions
From these results, we can say:
-
(i)
there are large differences in tensile properties and local stiffness among cells, depending upon cell kind, location, phenotype, passive or active state, and so on. Fibroblasts have the tensile strength of approximately 1 µN, while vascular smooth muscle cells do not break even at 2 µN. Vascular endothelial cells are much weaker than these two cells. The stiffness of vascular smooth muscle cells, which is significantly larger than those of the other two cells, is larger in contractile phenotype than in synthetic phenotype, and is greatly increased by contraction.
-
(ii)
The distribution of stiffness in a cell is not uniform, possibly due to inhomogeneous cytoskeletal structure. The stiffness of cells is higher in the central areas over cell nuclei than in peripheral areas, and greater at the locations where there exist actin bundles or stress fibers underneath.
-
(iii)
The stiffness of vascular endothelial cells at the medial site of the iliac artery significantly decreases with the progression of atherosclerosis, probably due to lipid uptake and/or some disorganization of cytoskeletal structure, such as stress fibers.
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Hayashi, K. (2006). Tensile Properties and Local Stiffness of Cells. In: Holzapfel, G.A., Ogden, R.W. (eds) Mechanics of Biological Tissue. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-31184-X_10
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