Stress fibers and focal adhesions are complex protein arrays that produce, transmit and
sense mechanical tension. Evidence accumulated over many years led to the conclusion …

Several reports show that the nucleus is 10 times stiffer than the cytoplasm. Hence, it is not
clear if intra-nuclear structures can be directly deformed by a load of physiologic …

Cells display a large variety of shapes when plated in classical culture conditions despite
their belonging to a common cell type. These shapes are transitory, since cells permanently …

We investigate both theoretically and experimentally how stress is propagated through the
actin cytoskeleton of adherent cells and consequentially distributed at sites of focal …

Actomyosin stress fibers (SFs) play key roles in driving polarized motility and generating
traction forces, yet little is known about how tension borne by an individual SF is governed …

We report here that living cells and nuclei are hard-wired such that a mechanical tug on cell
surface receptors can immediately change the organization of molecular assemblies in the …

Cellular adhesions are modulated by cytoskeletal forces or external stresses and adapt to
the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix. We propose that this …

Ventral stress fibers and focal adhesions are physically coupled structures that play key
roles in cellular mechanics and force sensing. The tight functional interdependence between …

Numerous experimental studies have established that cells can sense the stiffness of
underlying substrates and have quantified the effect of substrate stiffness on stress fibre …

The actin cytoskeleton plays a crucial role for the spreading of cells, but is also a key
element for the structural integrity and internal tension in cells. In fact, adhesive cells and …