ABSTRACT
Biological cells are often subject to a variety of external stresses and forces. They also exert forces on their surroundings, for instance, in cell locomotion. There are many important and outstanding problems in cell biology concerning the origins and regulation of cell mechanical properties (Alberts et al. 1994, Boal 2002). Such mechanical factors determine how a cell maintains and modies its shape, how it moves, and even how cells adhere to one another. Mechanical stimulus of cells can also result in changes in gene expression.
