Fig. 4.

ECM accumulation profiles. a) The ECM concentration near the cell surface (within 6 µm) is measured over time. The concentration is normalized to the concentration before force loading. Dynamic forces are loaded at the normalized time from 0 to 1, and applied forces are stopped afterwards to allow for relaxation. High R_P leads to low ECM accumulation that reverts, whereas low R_P leads to high ECM accumulation that does not revert. b) The peak concentration is measured as a function of R_P. This includes both elastic and nonelastic ECM accumulation. c) The nonelastic accumulation (calculated at normalized time = 2, when most simulations have reached a relatively stable state) is measured as a function of R_P. At this point, most of the elastic strains have been relaxed.