Figure 1. Schematic of mechanical stimulation system used to exert shear stress and equibiaxial stretch on living cells.

Our system uses a peristaltic flow pump to exert a shear stress across the apical surface of cells cultured on PDMS and a pressure regulator to apply a hydrostatic pressure-induced equibiaxial strain on the basal surface of cells. After mechanical stimulation, immunostaining is used to visualize FN.