Does Substrate Stiffness Guide Neutrophils During An Inflammation Response?

Hysteresis in the cell response to time-dependent substrate stiffness.

Mechanical cues like the rigidity of the substrate are main determinants for the decision-making of adherent cells. Here we use a mechano-chemical model to predict the cellular response to varying substrate stiffnesses. The model equations combine the mechanics of contractile actin filament bundles with a model for the Rho-signaling pathway triggered by forces at cell-matrix contacts. A bifurca...

The role of neutrophils in immune dysfunction during severe inflammation.

Critically ill post-surgical, post-trauma and/or septic patients are characterised by severe inflammation. This immune response consists of both a pro- and an anti-inflammatory component. The pro-inflammatory component contributes to (multiple) organ failure whereas occurrence of immune paralysis predisposes to infections. Strikingly, infectious complications arise in these patients despite the...

Substrate stiffness regulates solubility of cellular vimentin

The intermediate filament protein vimentin is involved in the regulation of cell behavior, morphology, and mechanical properties. Previous studies using cells cultured on glass or plastic substrates showed that vimentin is largely insoluble. Although substrate stiffness was shown to alter many aspects of cell behavior, changes in vimentin organization were not reported. Our results show for the...

Cellular mechanotransduction: stiffness does matter.

triplet excitons of the guests by restricting their molecular motion at room temperature and preventing them from exposure to detrimental species such as oxygen and moisture 7–10. The formation of the long-lived triplet excitons of A through efficient energy transfer from the T 1 state of D allows for effective accumulation of excitons in the T 1 state of A on irradiation of the composite films...

Neutrophils usher monocytes into sites of inflammation.