2.785J | Fall 2014 | Graduate

Cell-Matrix Mechanics

Course Description

Mechanical forces play a decisive role during development of tissues and organs, during remodeling following injury as well as in normal function. A stress field influences cell function primarily through deformation of the extracellular matrix to which cells are attached. Deformed cells express different biosynthetic …
Mechanical forces play a decisive role during development of tissues and organs, during remodeling following injury as well as in normal function. A stress field influences cell function primarily through deformation of the extracellular matrix to which cells are attached. Deformed cells express different biosynthetic activity relative to undeformed cells. The unit cell process paradigm combined with topics in connective tissue mechanics form the basis for discussions of several topics from cell biology, physiology, and medicine.
Learning Resource Types
Problem Sets with Solutions
Six figures of cells under magnification.
Histological micrographs of collagen–GAG matrices seeded with articular chondrocytes (a–d) and meniscus cells (e–f) after 21 days in culture. Scale bars are 50 µm. Read more about this figure in Zaleskas, J. M., B. Kinner, et al. “Growth Factor Regulation of Smooth Muscle Actin Expression and Contraction of Human Articular Chondrocytes and Meniscal Cells in a Collagen–GAG Matrix.” Experimental Cell Research 270, no. 1 (2001): 21–31. (Courtesy of Elsevier, Inc., http://www.sciencedirect.com. Used with permission.)