title: Rigidity sensing explained by active matter theory.
abstract: The magnitude of traction forces exerted by living animal cells on their environment is a monotonically increasing and approximately sigmoidal function of the stiffness of the external medium. We rationalize this observation using active matter theory, and propose that adaptation to substrate rigidity results from an interplay between passive elasticity and active contractility.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marcq
authors.forename: Natsuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshinaga
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prost
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D004285:Dogs; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D021381:Protein Transport