Tissue homeostasis: A tensile state

Mechanics play a significant role during tissue development. One of the key characteristics that underlies this mechanical role is the homeostatic pressure, which is the pressure stalling growth. In this work, we explore the possibility of a negative bulk homeostatic pressure by means of a mesoscale simulation approach and experimental data of several cell lines. We show how different cell properties change the bulk homeostatic pressure, which could explain the benefit of some observed morphological changes during cancer progression. Furthermore, we study the dependence of growth on pressure and estimate the bulk homeostatic pressure of five cell lines. Four out of five result in a bulk homeostatic pressure in the order of minus one or two kPa. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2015