How stiff and thin can an engineered extracellular matrix be? Modeling molecular forces at the cell-matrix interface

The function of tissue cells can be significantly modulated by changes in the local mechanical environment, including the stiffness of the substrata to which these cells adhere. To engineer surfaces that maintain or induce cell functions, it is important to understand the force, length, and timescales over which cell surface receptors probe the local mechanical environment. Here we show how simplified continuum and atomistic simulations of the nanoscale forces between cell surface receptors and extracellular matrix molecules help define the critical features of materials designed to recapitulate the cell's in vivo mechanical environment for tissue engineering applications.