title: Nonlinearities of biopolymer gels increase the range of force transmission.
abstract: We present a model of biopolymer gels that includes two types of elastic nonlinearities, stiffening under extension and softening (due to buckling) under compression, to predict the elastic anisotropy induced by both external as well as internal (e.g., due to cell contractility) stresses in biopolymer gels. We show how the stretch-induced anisotropy and the strain-stiffening nonlinearity increase both the amplitude and power-law range of transmission of internal, contractile, cellular forces, and relate this to recent experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Xinpeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Interfaces, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Samuel A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Safran
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004548:Elasticity; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D005782:Gels