3D mechanical analysis of a self-contractile cell with stress fibers reorganization

Contractile stress generated by a cell itself is crucial in sensing its surrounding microenvironment and regulating cell adhesion, differentiation and cytokinesis. However, the precise mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction remain unknown. In this paper, based on the Eshelby inclusion problem, we develop a theoretical model to characterize quantitatively the mechanical environment around a self-contractile cell experiencing stress fibers reorganization. We divide the contractile stress into two parts: the constant contractile stress and the perturbed contractile stress due to stress fibers reorganization, for internal stress fibers have enough time to reorganize actively during long-term deformation, leading to changes of contractile stress in both magnitude and direction. Obtained results suggest that stress fibers reorganization may cause significant changes in the mechanical environment of the cell, helpful for exploring the mechanisms behind cell mechanotransduction.