Active Control of Cellular Orientation through In-Situ Stress in the Substrate

Abstract

We investigate the orientation of cells on substrates to find possible methods for controlling the cellular orientation. The force dipole model is employed in our modelling and simulation. The elastic interaction between cells as well as the elastic interaction between the cell and in-situ stress field in the substrate are found to be the two main physical mechanisms to control the cellular orientation. The former interaction dominates the cellular orientation when the in-situ stress is small, while the later dominates when the in-situ stress is large enough. Two cells tend to align perpendicularly on a free substrate, but the cellular orientation varies with the increasing in-situ stress. Two cells tend to align in parallel when the normal stress is large enough. Their direction is perpendicular to the extension stress direction or parallel to the compression stress direction. When the positive in-situ shear stress is large enough, the two cells tend to align at −45°. Based on this theoretical simulation, it is believed that the cellular orientation on substrates can be controlled by the in-situ stresses.