Rotations of microscopic magnetic particles, magnetosomes, embedded into the cytoskeleton and subjected to the influence of an ac magnetic field and thermal noise are considered. Magnetosome dynamics is shown to comply with the conditions of the stochastic resonance under not-too-tight constraints on the character of the particle’s fastening. The excursion of regular rotations attains the value...

Mechanical homeostasis-a fundamental process by which cells maintain stable states under environmental perturbations-is regulated by two subcellular mechanotransducers: cytoskeleton tension and integrin-mediated focal adhesions (FAs). Here, we show that single-cell mechanical homeostasis is collectively driven by the distinct, graduated dynamics (rheostasis) of subcellular cytoskeleton tension ...

Out-of-equilibrium systems, such as the dynamics of a living cytoskeleton (CSK), are inherently noisy with fluctuations arising from the stochastic nature of the underlying biochemical and molecular events. Recently, such fluctuations within the cell were characterized by observing spontaneous nano-scale motions of an RGD-coated microbead bound to the cell surface [Bursac et al., Nat. Mater. 4 ...

Therapeutic ultrasound is widely employed in clinical applications but its mechanism of action remains unclear. Here we report prompt fluidization of a cell and dramatic acceleration of its remodeling dynamics when exposed to low intensity ultrasound. These physical changes are caused by very small strains (10-5) at ultrasonic frequencies (106 Hz), but are closely analogous to those caused by r...