Directed movement of cell motility via mechanical cues
Mechanotaxis refers to the directed movement of cell motility via mechanical cues (e.g., fluidic shear stress, substrate stiffness gradients, etc.).[1][2][3] In response to fluidic shear stress, for example, cells have been shown to migrate in the direction of the fluid flow.[1][4] Mechanotaxis is critical in many normal biological processes in animals, such as gastrulation,[5] inflammation,[6] and repair in response to a wound,[7] as well as in mechanisms of diseases such as tumor metastasis.[7]
A subset of mechanotaxis - termed durotaxis - refers specifically to cell migration guided by gradients in substrate rigidity (i.e. stiffness).[2][8] The observation that certain cell types seeded on a substrate rigidity gradient migrate up the gradient (i.e. in the direction of increasing substrate stiffness) was first reported by Lo et al.[9] The primary method for creating rigidity gradients for cells (e.g., in biomaterials) consists of altering the degree of cross-linking in polymers to adjust substrate stiffness.[10][11] Alternative substrate rigidity gradients include micropost array gradients, where the stiffness of individual microposts is increased in a single, designed direction.[8]
^Hsu, Steve; Thakar, Rahul; Liepmann, Dorian; Li, Song (11 November 2005). "Effects of shear stress on endothelial cell haptotaxis on micropatterned surfaces". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 337 (1): 401–409. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.08.272. PMID16188239.
^Gray, Darren S.; Tien, Joe; Chen, Christopher S. (1 September 2003). "Repositioning of cells by mechanotaxis on surfaces with micropatterned Young's modulus". Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. 66A (3): 605–614. CiteSeerX10.1.1.646.1614. doi:10.1002/jbm.a.10585. PMID12918044.
^Wong, Joyce Y.; Velasco, Alan; Rajagopalan, Padmavathy; Pham, Quynh (1 March 2003). "Directed Movement of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells on Gradient-Compliant Hydrogels". Langmuir. 19 (5): 1908–1913. doi:10.1021/la026403p.