A viscoelastic–stochastic model of the effects of cytoskeleton remodelling on cell adhesion

Cells can adapt their mechanical properties through cytoskeleton remodelling in response to external stimuli when the cells adhere to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Many studies have investigated the effects of cell and ECM elasticity on cell adhesion. However, experiments determined that cells are viscoelastic and exhibiting stress relaxation, and the mechanism behind the effect of cellular viscoelasticity on the cell adhesion behaviour remains unclear. Therefore, we propose a theoretical model of a cluster of ligand–receptor bonds between two dissimilar viscoelastic media subjected to an applied tensile load. In this model, the distribution of interfacial traction is assumed to follow classical continuum viscoelastic equations, whereas the rupture and rebinding of individual molecular bonds are governed by stochastic equations. On the basis of this model, we determined that viscosity can significantly increase the lifetime, stability and dynamic strength of the adhesion cluster of molecular bonds, because deformation relaxation attributed to the viscoelastic property can increase the rebinding probability of each open bond and reduce the stress concentration in the adhesion area.

Elastic response of DNA molecules under the action of interfacial traction and stretching: An elastic thin rod model

In a multivalent salt solution, a segment of DNA is modeled as an elastic rod subjected to the interfacial traction. The shooting method is used to calculate the equilibrium configurations of condensed DNA under the action of the longitudinal end-force and interfacial traction simultaneously. The results show that the shapes of DNA are mainly determined by the competition between the interfacial energy and elastic strain energy of stretching. The change of end-to-end distance with the longitudinal end-force is consistent with the worm-like chain (WLC) model. The higher the concentration is, the stronger the condensation of DNA.

Effects of Adhesive Thickness on Global and Local Mixed Mode I/II Interfacial Fracture of Bonded Steel Joints

Interfacial toughness and interfacial strength, as two critical parameters in an interfacial traction-separation law, have important effect on the fracture behaviors of bonded joints. In this work, the global and local tests are employed to investigate the effect of adhesive thickness on interfacial energy release rate, interfacial strength, and shapes of the interfacial traction-separation laws. Basically, the measured laws in this work reflect the equivalent and lumped interfacial fracture behaviors which include the cohesive fracture, damage and plasticity. The experimentally determined interfacial traction-separation laws may provide valuable baseline data for the parameter calibrations in numerical models. The current experimental results may also facilitate the understanding of adhesive thickness-dependent interface fracture of bonded joints.