Computational approaches to cellular biomechanics

Cells are constantly exposed to loads, which are sensed by their organelle and transduced into cellular events, a phenomenon called mechanotransduction. Despite receiving significant attention over the past years and exponential advances in cell characterization techniques, understanding how mechanical signals are transferred to cell’s internal components, remains challenging. Computational models could, in this context, act as a key-enabling technology, providing a cohesive element in the interpretation of biophysical- and biochemical-assays. Although already ubiquitous in the investigation of the underlying mechanisms based on which mechanical stress can elicit biophysical responses on the macro level, Finite Element (FE) models are still considered to be of limited predictive capacity in cellular mechanobiology. To address this, a 3D model of an osteoblast was reverse engineered and subjected to three types of analyses (FE modelling, Fluid–Structure Interaction and Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics), as to evaluated the suitability of each technique for different loading scenaria.