Jie Bai, Xiaowei Zeng^*

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.131, No.2, pp. 551-565, 2022, DOI:10.32604/cmes.2022.019376

Abstract Cell migration plays a significant role in many biological activities, yet the physical mechanisms of cell migration are still not well understood. In this study, a continuum physics-based epithelial monolayer model including the intercellular interaction was employed to study the cell migration behavior in a confluent epithelial monolayer at constant cell density. The epithelial cell was modeled as isotropic elastic material. Through finite element simulation, the results revealed that the motile cell was subjected to higher stress than the other jammed cells during the migration process. Cell stiffness was implied to play a significant role in epithelial cell migration behavior.… More >

Mingzhi Luo¹, Kai Ni¹, Peili Yu¹, Yang Jin², Lei Liu¹, Jingjing Li¹, Yan Pan¹, Linhong Deng^1,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.16, No.2, pp. 141-151, 2019, DOI:10.32604/mcb.2019.06756

Abstract Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is the cardinal character of asthma, which involves the biomechanical properties such as cell stiffness and traction force of airway smooth muscle cells (ASMCs). Therefore, these biomechanical properties comprise logical targets of therapy. β2-adrenergic agonist is currently the mainstream drug to target ASMCs in clinical practice for treating asthma. However, this drug is known for side effects such as desensitization and non-responsiveness in some patients. Therefore, it is desirable to search for new drug agents to be alternative of β2-adrenergic agonist. In this context, sanguinarine, a natural product derived from plants such as bloodroots, that has been… More >