Contractile actin belt and mesh structures provide the opposite dependence of epithelial stiffness on the spontaneous curvature of constituent cells

This study focuses on mechanical roles of contractile actin structures in determining macroscopic mechanics of epithelium. We performed computational simulations of epithelial deformations using the 3D vertex model, and revealed that the contractile belt and mesh structures have the contrary dependence of the epithelial stiffness and fracture force on the spontaneous curvature of constituent cells.

Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - May 1, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Satoru Okuda, Katsuyuki Unoki, Mototsugu Eiraku, Ken ‐ichi Tsubota Tags: Original Article Source Type: research