The Effect of the Physical Properties of the Substrate on the Kinetics of Cell Adhesion and Crawling

What is it about?

We have theoretically shown how the stiffness and ligand density of the substrate affect the kinetics of cell adhesion. In addition, a theoretical diffusion-thermodynamics model has been developed for modeling the cell crawling on a substrate with stiffness gradient for the fist time.

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Why is it important?

When compared to the previous experimental observations, our theoretical model is interestingly capable of justifying the complex behavior of the adherent cell in response to the changes in physical properties of the substrate. The minimum ligand spacing of 57 nm for formation of the focal adhesion zones is in complete agreement with the experiments, and, the facilitated adhesion to the stiffer substrate is justified in this article. In addition, cell migration from soft to stiff regions of the functionally graded substrate is modeled which shows deceleration of the movement with increasing the stiffness, which is in consonance with the experiments.