[6] Bangasser, B.L, G. Shamsan, C.E. Chan, K.N. Opoku, E. Tüzel, B.W. Schlichtmann, J.A. Kasim, B.J. Fuller, B.R. McCullough, S.S. Rosenfeld, and D.J. Odde, “Shifting the optimal stiffness for cell migration,” Nature Communications, 8, Article number: 15313 (2017).
This study demonstrated that the optimal mechanical stiffness of the substrate to which cells adhere, in terms of cell spreading and migration, can be shifted as predicted by the motor-clutch model, i.e. by coordinately changing the motor-clutch level. Thus, the principle difference between neurons and glioma cells is the motor-clutch level, with glioma exhibiting a much higher level of both, and therefore a much higher optimum. The study demonstrates the predictive power of the motor-clutch modeling, and shows how cells establish their optimum.