Elastic Interactions of Cells

U. S. Schwarz and S. A. Safran
Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 048102 – Published 11 January 2002
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Abstract

Biological cells in soft materials can be modeled as anisotropic force contraction dipoles. The corresponding elastic interaction potentials are long ranged ( 1/r3 with distance r) and depend sensitively on elastic constants, geometry, and cellular orientations. On elastic substrates, the elastic interaction is similar to that of electric quadrupoles in two dimensions and for dense systems leads to aggregation with herringbone order on a cellular scale. Free and clamped surfaces of samples of finite size introduce attractive and repulsive corrections, respectively, which vary on the macroscopic scale. Our theory predicts cell reorientation on stretched elastic substrates.

  • Received 12 June 2001

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.048102

©2002 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

U. S. Schwarz1 and S. A. Safran2

  • 1Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14424 Potsdam, Germany
  • 2Department of Materials and Interfaces, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

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Vol. 88, Iss. 4 — 28 January 2002

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