Chemomechanics of Cell-Material Interactions

Krystyn Van Vliet, Ph.D.

It is increasingly appreciated that both the chemical and mechanical states of cells and molecules are strongly coupled. For example, we and others have shown that the stiffness of the substrata underlying adherent cells is correlative with the efficiency of adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation potential of tissue cells. Although the mechanisms are incompletely understood, this chemomechanical coupling is generally considered to involve force transmission from the extracellular matrix materials through cell surface receptors associated with the internal cytoskeleton. Here, we discuss our recent experimental and multiscale computational work in the use of nanoscale contact to map the chemomechanical response of amorphous polymers that serve as cell substrata, of living biological cell surfaces, and of individual molecular ligand-receptor complexes. Together, these results indicate that kinetics of reversible adhesion between the cell and polymeric substrata depend directly on the thickness and stiffness of that substratum. We have applied these results to predict, control, and model the function of tissue cells adhered to chemomechanically defined materials; and to demonstrate why prokaryotic cells such as bacteria also exhibit mechanoselective adhesion.