Fig. 3.

Stress profiles. a) The stress in the network, calculated by summing the normal tensions of components crossing a plane parallel to the cell surface and then dividing by the area of the surface (20 × 20 µm²), evolves over time for networks with different R_P’s. Dynamic forces are applied from normalized time of 0 to 1, followed by cessation of applied forces. High R_P leads to stable network stresses, whereas low R_P leads to stress profiles that decay over time. b) The peak stress in the network increases with increasing R_P up to a plateau. c) The stress ratio is the ratio of the stress at t = 1 (right before applied forces are stopped) and the peak stress. The stress ratio also increases with R_P up to a plateau.