FIGURE 2.

Overlap between agents, δ, produces force transmission and serves as an analogy for cellular mechanics. (A) Agents adjacent to each other at the boundary of the inner ellipse are in the “stress-free” configuration and transmit no force between one another. (B) Overlap of the inner ellipses produce an extrusive force which pushes the cells apart and represents cell-cell compression. (C) Overlap of the outer ellipses produces a cohesive force and which pulls the cells together and represents cell-cell tension. (D) Agents without overlap between their inner and outer ellipses are out of range from each other and transmit no force, indicating a lack of junctional connection between the two.