Scaling the microrheology of living cells

We report a scaling law that governs both the elastic and frictional properties of a wide variety of living cell types, over a wide range of time scales and under a variety of biological interventions. This scaling identifies these cells as soft glassy materials existing close to a glass transition,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 87; no. 14; p. 148102
Main Authors Fabry, B, Maksym, G N, Butler, J P, Glogauer, M, Navajas, D, Fredberg, J J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.10.2001
Subjects
Cytoskeletal Proteins - chemistry
Cytoskeletal Proteins - physiology
Cytoskeleton - chemistry
Cytoskeleton - physiology
Histamine - pharmacology
Humans
Models, Biological
Muscle Contraction - drug effects
Muscle, Smooth - cytology
Muscle, Smooth - drug effects
Oligopeptides - chemistry
Rheology - methods
Trachea - cytology
Trachea - drug effects
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Summary:We report a scaling law that governs both the elastic and frictional properties of a wide variety of living cell types, over a wide range of time scales and under a variety of biological interventions. This scaling identifies these cells as soft glassy materials existing close to a glass transition, and implies that cytoskeletal proteins may regulate cell mechanical properties mainly by modulating the effective noise temperature of the matrix. The practical implications are that the effective noise temperature is an easily quantified measure of the ability of the cytoskeleton to deform, flow, and reorganize.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.148102