Quantifying forces in cell biology

Cells exert, sense, and respond to physical forces through an astounding diversity of mechanisms. Here we review recently developed tools to quantify the forces generated by cells. We first review technologies based on sensors of known or assumed mechanical properties, and discuss their applicabilit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Roca-Cusachs Soulere, Pere, Conte, Vito, Trepat Guixer, Xavier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/180611
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/180611
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cèl·lules
Citosquelet
Membranes cel·lulars
Propietats mecàniques
Cells
Cytoskeleton
Cell membranes
Mechanical properties
Descripción
Sumario:Cells exert, sense, and respond to physical forces through an astounding diversity of mechanisms. Here we review recently developed tools to quantify the forces generated by cells. We first review technologies based on sensors of known or assumed mechanical properties, and discuss their applicability and limitations. We then proceed to draw an analogy between these human-made sensors and force sensing in the cell. As mechanics is increasingly revealed to play a fundamental role in cell function we envisage that tools to quantify physical forces may soon become widely applied in life-sciences laboratories.