Cell Mechanics Regulates the Dynamic Anisotropic Remodeling of Fibril Matrix at Large Scale
Mingxing Ouyang,
Yanling Hu,
Weihui Chen,
Hui Li,
Yingbo Ji,
Linshuo Qiu,
Linlin Zhu,
Baohua Ji,
Bing Bu,
Linhong Deng
Affiliations
Mingxing Ouyang
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Yanling Hu
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Weihui Chen
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Hui Li
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Yingbo Ji
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Linshuo Qiu
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Linlin Zhu
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Baohua Ji
Institute of Biomechanics and Applications, Department of Engineering Mechanics,
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China.
Bing Bu
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Linhong Deng
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, School of Medical and Health Engineering and School of Pharmacy,
Changzhou University, Changzhou, 213164, China.
Living tissues often have anisotropic and heterogeneous organizations, in which developmental processes are coordinated by cells and extracellular matrix modeling. Cells have the capability of modeling matrix in long distance; however, the biophysical mechanism is largely unknown. We investigated the dynamic remodeling of collagen I (COL) fibril matrix by cell contraction with designed patterns of cell clusters. By considering cell dynamic contractions, our molecular dynamics simulations predicted the anisotropic patterns of the observed COL bundling in experiments with various geometrical patterns without spatial limitation. The pattern of COL bundling was closely related to the dynamic remodeling of fibril under cell active contraction. We showed that cell cytoskeletal integrity (actin filaments and microtubules), actomyosin contractions, and endoplasmic reticulum calcium channels acting as force generations and transductions were essential for fiber bundling inductions, and membrane mechanosensory components integrin and Piezo played critical roles as well. This study revealed the underlying mechanisms of the cell mechanics-induced matrix remodeling in large scales and the associated cellular mechanism and should provide important guidelines for tissue engineering in potential biomedical applications.
