Physicochemical Control of Adult Stem Cell Differentiation: Shedding Light on Potential Molecular Mechanisms

Figure 4

Model for differential cellular mechanics in human MSCs and osteoblasts. Thin and dense actin filaments in osteoblasts are tightly bound to the plasma membrane through multiple linker proteins (e.g, ATP-dependent ERM proteins) and focal complexes. Thicker stress fibers in human MSC are associated with the membrane mostly at the focal contacts due to a smaller contact area with the membrane and thus lower availability of protein linker binding sites. As result, in human MSC the overall membrane-cytoskeleton adhesion is weaker, and longer membrane tethers are formed that reflects a lower membrane tension. However, thick bundled actin structure in human MSCs provides a higher elastic modulus.