The cytoplasm of living cells responds to deformation in much the same way as a water-filled sponge does. This behaviour, although intuitive, is connected to long-standing and unsolved fundamental questions in cell mechanics.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Bursac, P. et al. Nature Mater. 4, 557–571 (2005).
Einstein, A. Ann. Physik 19, 371–381 (1905).
Stamenovic, D. Acta Biomaterialia 1, 255–262 (2005).
Zhou, E. H. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 10632–10637 (2009).
Fabry, B. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 148102 (2001).
Trepat, X. et al. Nature 447, 592–595 (2007).
Dahl, K. N., Engler, A. J., Pajerowski, J. D. & Discher, D. E. Biophys. J. 89, 2855–2864 (2005).
Moeendarbary, E. et al. Nature Mater. 12, 253–261 (2013).
Wolff, L., Fernandez, P. & Kroy, K. PLoS ONE 7, e40063 (2012).
Cavalier-Smith, T. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 52, 297–354 (2002).
Krishnan, R. et al. PLoS ONE 4, e5486 (2009).
Newman, S. A. Science 338, 217–219 (2012).
Steinberg, M. S. Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 17, 281–286 (2007).
Angelini, T. E. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 4714–4719 (2011).
Sanchez, T., Chen, D. T., DeCamp, S. J., Heymann, M. & Dogic, Z. Nature 491, 431–434 (2012).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhou, E., Martinez, F. & Fredberg, J. Mush rather than machine. Nature Mater 12, 184–185 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3574
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3574