Coupling between apical tension and basal adhesion allow epithelia to collectively sense and respond to substrate topography over long distances.

ABSTRACT: Epithelial sheets fold into complex topographies that contribute to their function in vivo. Cells can sense and respond to substrate topography in their immediate vicinity by modulating their interfacial mechanics, but the extent to which these mechanical properties contribute to their ability to sense substrate topography across length scales larger than a single cell has not been explored in detail. To study the relationship between the interfacial mechanics of single cells and their collective behavior as tissues, we grew cell-sheets on substrates engraved with surface features spanning macroscopic length-scales. We found that many epithelial cell-types sense and respond to substrate topography, even when it is locally nearly planar. Cells clear or detach from regions of local negative

SUBMITTER: Broaders KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4666816 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature