Physical Biology of Axonal Damage

In biology, molecular linkages at, within, and beneath cell interfaces arise mainly from weak noncovalent interactions. These bonds will fail under any level of pulling force if held for sufficient time. Thus, when tested with ultrasensitive force probes, we expect cohesive material strength and strength of adhesion at interfaces to be time- and loading rate-dependent properties. To examine what can be learned from measurements of bond strength, we have extended Kramers' theory for reaction kinetics in liquids to bond dissociation under force and tested the predictions by smart Monte Carlo (Brownian dynamics) simulations of bond rupture. By definition, bond strength is the force that produces the most frequent failure in repeated tests of breakage, i.e., the peak in the distribution of rupture forces. As verified by the simulations, theory shows that bond strength progresses through three dynamic regimes of loading rate. First, bond strength emerges at a critical rate of loading (> or = 0) at which spontaneous dissociation is just frequent enough to keep the distribution peak at zero force. In the slow-loading regime immediately above the critical rate, strength grows as a weak power of loading rate and reflects initial coupling of force to the bonding potential. At higher rates, there is crossover to a fast regime in which strength continues to increase as the logarithm of the loading rate over many decades independent of the type of attraction. Finally, at ultrafast loading rates approaching the domain of molecular dynamics simulations, the bonding potential is quickly overwhelmed by the rapidly increasing force, so that only naked frictional drag on the structure remains to retard separation. Hence, to expose the energy landscape that governs bond strength, molecular adhesion forces must be examined over an enormous span of time scales. However, a significant gap exists between the time domain of force measurements in the laboratory and the extremely fast scale of molecular motions. Using results from a simulation of biotin-avidin bonds (Izrailev, S., S. Stepaniants, M. Balsera, Y. Oono, and K. Schulten. 1997. Molecular dynamics study of unbinding of the avidin-biotin complex. Biophys. J., this issue), we describe how Brownian dynamics can help bridge the gap between molecular dynamics and probe tests.

Players of American football may be at increased risk of long-term neurological conditions, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The past decade has seen substantial growth in research into how changes in the biomechanical and biophysical properties of cells and subcellular structures influence, and are influenced by, the onset and progression of human diseases. This paper presents an overview of the rapidly expanding, nascent field of research that deals with the biomechanics and biophysics of cancer cells. The review begins with some key observations on the biology of cancer cells and on the role of actin microfilaments, intermediate filaments and microtubule biopolymer cytoskeletal components in influencing cell mechanics, locomotion, differentiation and neoplastic transformation. In order to set the scene for mechanistic discussions of the connections among alterations to subcellular structures, attendant changes in cell deformability, cytoadherence, migration, invasion and tumor metastasis, a survey is presented of the various quantitative mechanical and physical assays to extract the elastic and viscoelastic deformability of cancer cells. Results available in the literature on cell mechanics for different types of cancer are then reviewed. Representative case studies are presented next to illustrate how chemically induced cytoskeletal changes, biomechanical responses and signals from the intracellular regions act in concert with the chemomechanical environment of the extracellular matrix and the molecular tumorigenic signaling pathways to effect malignant transformations. Results are presented to illustrate how changes to cytoskeletal architecture induced by cancer drugs and chemotherapy regimens can significantly influence cell mechanics and disease state. It is reasoned through experimental evidence that greater understanding of the mechanics of cancer cell deformability and its interactions with the extracellular physical, chemical and biological environments offers enormous potential for significant new developments in disease diagnostics, prophylactics, therapeutics and drug efficacy assays.