Reciprocal coupling between cells and their mechanical environment

Contractile cells such as fibroblasts exert physical forces on the surrounding extracellular matrix ECM and these forces can lead to material remodeling. Conversely the structure of the ECM can determine the form of cell motility and cell-cell interactions. Here we describe the use of a simple lattice-based model coupled to experiments of cells in reconstituted collagen-based gels to study how contraction leads to both elastic and plastic deformations. We then argue that these deformations allow cells to affect each other with novel long-range (in time) interactions and that these may be responsible for patterns observed both in vitro and in tumor samples.