Nonlinear elasticity in biological gels

Cornelis Storm (), Jennifer J. Pastore, F. C. MacKintosh, T. C. Lubensky and Paul A. Janmey
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Cornelis Storm: University of Pennsylvania
Jennifer J. Pastore: University of Pennsylvania
F. C. MacKintosh: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
T. C. Lubensky: University of Pennsylvania
Paul A. Janmey: University of Pennsylvania

Nature, 2005, vol. 435, issue 7039, 191-194

Abstract: Biomaterials under stress Unlike most synthetic materials, biological materials often stiffen as they are strained. This property, critical for the physiological function of tissues such as blood vessels, lung parenchyma and blood clots, has been documented since the nineteenth century, but the molecular structures and design principles responsible for it are unknown. Storm et al. now show that a much simpler theory can account for strain stiffening in a wide range of biopolymer gels formed from cytoskeletal and extracellular proteins. According to this theory, systems of semiflexible chains such as filamentous proteins arranged in an open crosslinked meshwork invariably stiffen at low strains without the need for a specific architecture or multiple elements with different intrinsic stiffnesses.

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03521

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