Multiscale Biomechanical Modeling of Stem Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions

A multiscale cell model has been developed to study the mechanotransduction of pluripotent stem cells in an attempt to explain the mechanical information exchange between the cells and their extracellular environment leading to a biologic response. In the model, the macroscale cell is modeled as liquid crystal with a hyperelastic nucleus. A nanoscale adhesive model was introduced to describe the interaction between receptors and ligands. We have developed and implemented a Lagrange type meshfree Galerkin formulation and related computational algorithms for the described cell and adhesive contact model. A comparison study with experimental data was conducted to validate the parameters of the cellular computational model. By using a soft matter physics modeling approach, we have simulated the adhesive contact process between cells and different extracellular matrix substrates. The simulation shows that the cell can sense substrate elasticity by responding via cell spreading, altered cell contact configurations, and altered molecular conformations.