title: Scaling the microrheology of living cells.
abstract: We report a scaling law that governs both the elastic and frictional properties of a wide variety of living cell types, over a wide range of time scales and under a variety of biological interventions. This scaling identifies these cells as soft glassy materials existing close to a glass transition, and implies that cytoskeletal proteins may regulate cell mechanical properties mainly by modulating the effective noise temperature of the matrix. The practical implications are that the effective noise temperature is an easily quantified measure of the ability of the cytoskeleton to deform, flow, and reorganize.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Program, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fabry
authors.forename: G N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Maksym
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glogauer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Navajas
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fredberg
mesh_terms: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D006632:Histamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods; D014132:Trachea / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D009842:Oligopeptides; C047981:arginyl-glycyl-aspartic acid; D006632:Histamine