Fig. 3.

Repeated cell stretching and hysteresis: (a) representative images of a single AR4 VSMC during one cycle of loading and unloading. Left columns: brightfield image of cell. Right columns: cell-induced bead displacement field. (b) Total traction force generated by AR4 cells undergoing loading and unloading cycles during repeated uniaxial-A stretch (n = 9). (c) Total traction force exerted by AR4 cells during cyclic loading over four sequential stretches (n = 5). (d) Normalized cycle-to-cycle total traction force relative to the first stretching cycle for cells exposed to four sequential uniaxial-A stretches. All error bars: standard deviation.