Contractility-induced self-organization of smooth muscle cells: from multilayer cell sheets to dynamic three-dimensional clusters.

ABSTRACT: Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are mural cells that play a vital contractile function in many tissues. Abnormalities in SMC organization are associated with many diseases including atherosclerosis, asthma, and uterine fibroids. Various studies have reported that SMCs cultured on flat surfaces can spontaneously form three-dimensional clusters whose organization resembles that encountered in some of these pathological settings. Remarkably, how these structures form remains unknown. Here we combine in vitro experiments and physical modeling to show that three-dimensional clusters initiate when cellular contractile forces induce a hole in a flat SMC sheet, a process that can be modeled as the brittle fracture of a viscoelastic material. The subsequent evolution of the nascent cluster can be modele

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10008632 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature