A bottom-up approach to cell mechanics

A. R. Bausch; K. Kroy

doi:10.1038/nphys260

A bottom-up approach to cell mechanics

A. R. Bausch, K. Kroy

Chair of Cellular Biophysics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

314 Scopus citations

Abstract

The mechanical stability and integrity of biological cells is provided by the cytoskeleton, a semidilute meshwork of biopolymers. Recent research has underscored its role as a dynamic, multifunctional muscle, whose passive and active mechanical performance is highly heterogeneous in space and time and intimately linked to many biological functions, such that it may serve as a sensitive indicator for the health or developmental state of the cell. In vitro reconstitution of 'functional modules' of the cytoskeleton is now seen as a way of balancing the mutually conflicting demands for simplicity, which is required for systematic and quantitative studies, and for a sufficient degree of complexity that allows a faithful representation of biological functions. This bottom-up strategy, aimed at unravelling biological complexity from its physical basis, builds on the latest advances in technology, experimental design and theoretical modelling, which are reviewed in this progress report.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	231-238
Number of pages	8
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	2
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys260
State	Published - Apr 2006

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abstract = "The mechanical stability and integrity of biological cells is provided by the cytoskeleton, a semidilute meshwork of biopolymers. Recent research has underscored its role as a dynamic, multifunctional muscle, whose passive and active mechanical performance is highly heterogeneous in space and time and intimately linked to many biological functions, such that it may serve as a sensitive indicator for the health or developmental state of the cell. In vitro reconstitution of 'functional modules' of the cytoskeleton is now seen as a way of balancing the mutually conflicting demands for simplicity, which is required for systematic and quantitative studies, and for a sufficient degree of complexity that allows a faithful representation of biological functions. This bottom-up strategy, aimed at unravelling biological complexity from its physical basis, builds on the latest advances in technology, experimental design and theoretical modelling, which are reviewed in this progress report.",

author = "Bausch, {A. R.} and K. Kroy",

note = "Funding Information: We thank T. M. Svitkina for providing Fig. 1. We also thank Oliver Lieleg and Rainer Tharmann for providing figures and schematics. The work of ARB is supported by SFB413, also the support of the “Fonds der Chemischen Industrie” is gratefully acknowledged. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.B. or K.K.",

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A bottom-up approach to cell mechanics

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