This book describes these exciting new developments, and presents experimental and computational findings that altogether describe the frontier of knowledge in cellular and biomolecular mechanics, and the biological implications, in health and disease. The book is written for bioengineers with interest in cellular mechanics, for biophysicists, biochemists, medical researchers and all other professionals with interest in how cells produce and respond to mechanical loads.

Preface

Fundamental concepts
Cytoskeletal mechanics and cellular mechanotransduction: A molecular perspective
Forces during cell adhesion and spreading: implications for cellular homeostasis
The physical mechanical processes that shape tissues in the early embryo
Mechanobiology of primary cilia
Mechanical response of living cells to contacting shear force
Experimental methods
Microfabricated devices for studying cellular biomechanics and mechanobiology
Nanotechnology usages for cellular adhesion and traction forces
Global and local effects in three-dimensional biological hydrogels
Global and local effects in three-dimensional biological hydrogels
Global and local effects in three-dimensional biological hydrogels
Biomechanical characterization of single chondrocytes
Mechanics of airway smooth muscle cells and the response to stretch
Computational modeling
Biomechanical modelling of cells in mechanoregulation
Finite element modeling of cellular mechanics experiments
Multiscale computation of cytoskeletal mechanics during blebbing
Mechanobiology and finite element analysis of cellular injury during microbubble flows
Mathematical modeling of cell adhesion in tissue engineering using continuum models
Cell-material communication: mechanosensing modelling for design in tissue engineering
Mechanobiology in cancer
Structure-mechanical property changes in nucleus arising from breast cancer
Adhesion and signaling of tumor cells to leukocytes and endothelium in cancer metastasis
Cellular mechanics of acute leukemia and chemotherapy