Effects of Local Mechanical Stimulation on Cellular Behavior

Cell response to mechanical stimulation is a controlled and complex set of events that has been investigated by numerous groups. Understanding the behavior of cells from a localized perspective is even more challenging due to the integrated responses that play significant roles. After investigating the effect of local mechanical stimulation with respect to cell apoptosis, we find that the resulting ratio of apoptotic cells with respect to the deformation of the cells through using soft pyramid shaped microstructure versus rectangular microstructures is increased by 200% percent. These results may also have implications in understanding cell behaviors such as cell-cell communication under the mechanical stimulation and mechanotransduction.