Single cell mechanics: stress stiffening and kinematic hardening

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for understanding the nonlinear rheology of single fibroblast cells, highlighting how elastic stiffening and viscoplastic kinematic hardening contribute to cell mechanics and robustness.

Contribution

It introduces a phenomenological model combining elastic stiffening and kinematic hardening to explain cell mechanical behavior, a novel approach in cell mechanics research.

Findings

Cell mechanical properties can be described by simple rules.

Elastic stiffening and kinematic hardening govern cell rheology.

Mechanical robustness is achieved through control of crosslink slippage.

Abstract

Cell mechanical properties are fundamental to the organism but remain poorly understood. We report a comprehensive phenomenological framework for the nonlinear rheology of single fibroblast cells: a superposition of elastic stiffening and viscoplastic kinematic hardening. Our results show, that in spite of cell complexity its mechanical properties can be cast into simple, well-defined rules, which provide mechanical cell strength and robustness via control of crosslink slippage.