Cells within living soft biological tissues seem to promote the maintenance of a mechanical state within adefined range near a so-called set-point. This mechanobiological process is often referred to as mechanicalhomeostasis. During this process, cells intimately interact with the fibers of the surrounding extracellularmatrix (ECM). It remains poorly understood, however, what individual cells actually regulate during theseinteractions, and how these micromechanical regulations are translated to tissue level to lead to what wemacroscopically call mechanical homeostasis. Herein, we examine this question by a combination of experi-ments, theoretical analysis and computational modeling. We demonstrate that on short time scales (hours)- during which deposition and degradation of ECM fibers can largely be neglected - cells appear to regulateneither the stress / strain in the ECM nor their own shape, but rather only the contractile forces that theyexert on the surrounding ECM.     «

Cells within living soft biological tissues seem to promote the maintenance of a mechanical state within adefined range near a so-called set-point. This mechanobiological process is often referred to as mechanicalhomeostasis. During this process, cells intimately interact with the fibers of the surrounding extracellularmatrix (ECM). It remains poorly understood, however, what individual cells actually regulate during theseinteractions, and how these micromechanical regulations are translated t...     »