Fig 1.
Schematic of Method 1.
Fig 2.
(a) Schematic of the 1 mm circular pattern. (d) Patterned collagen I. (g) Epithelial cells confined by the pattern. (j) Binarized cell island. Panels (b,e,h,k) and (c,f,i,l) repeat the patterning for square and star geometries, respectively. (m) Dice coefficient for circle, square, and star geometry. (n) Area difference between initial design and confined cell monolayers for square, star, and circle geometry. Gray dots represent individual cell monolayers, and black bars indicate means. At least 7 monolayers were used per shape.
Fig 3.
Schematic of Method 2.
Fig 4.
(a) Schematic of the 300 μm circular pattern. (b) Patterned BSA-488. (c) Epithelial cells confined by the pattern. (d) Binarized cell island. (e) Dice coefficient for circle geometry. (f) Area difference between initial design and confined cell monolayers for the circle geometry. Gray dots represent individual cell monolayers, and black bars indicate means. Results are from 6 cell monolayers.
Fig 5.
Representative experiment showing effects of island size on cell velocity.
(a-c) Phase contrast image of 300 μm, 400 μm, and 1 mm diameter cell islands. (d-f) Heat map of velocity magnitude overlaid with arrows indicating velocity direction and magnitude for 300 μm, 400 μm, and 1 mm cell islands. (g) Histogram of the velocity magnitude over 1 cell island over 15 hr. (h) Histogram of the direction of velocity over one cell island over 15 hr.
Fig 6.
Representative experiment showing effect of island shape on force production and transmission within the cell monolayer.
(a) Phase contrast image of 1 mm cell island. (b) Heat map of traction magnitude. (c) Heat map of the radial component of traction applied by the cells to the substrate, with outward being positive. (d) Heat map of maximum shear stress. (e) Phase contrast image of an elongated cell island. (f) Heat map of traction magnitude. (g) Heat map of traction components parallel and perpendicular to the long axis of the elongated island. Arrows indicate direction of positive traction. (h) Heat map of maximum shear stress.