Figure 6.

(I.) Schematic of a cell anchored onto a polymer substrate. Actomyosin chemistry inside the cells is the origin of contractions within the cell, and this tension is relayed to the substrate through focal adhesion (FA) complexes. This tension is known as cell traction force. FA proteins (integrins) form a connection to transmit forces between actin fibers from the cytoskeleton and the substrate. Among other processes, the quantification of cell traction forces is key to determining cell migratory behavior. (II.) Contractile forces within a cell quantified using TFM. The force charts (on the left) depict traction forces on synthetic polymer substrates. The graph on the right shows the traction forces generated during cell movement associated with the loss of a cytoskeletal filament protein, vimentin. A: Reproduced with permission from reference [105], Copyright (2018) Elsevier, B: Reproduced with permission from reference [106], Copyright (2019) John Wiley and Sons.