Substrate Rigidity Modulates Segmentation Clock Dynamics in Isolated Presomitic Mesoderm Cells.

The oscillatory behaviors of single PSM cells respond to substrate rigidity in a switch-like manner, with a critical threshold between 2.9 kPa and 6 kPa.As rigidity increases, both the oscillation percentage and the number of cycles decrease, while the period does not show a clear dependency on rigidity.Oscillating cells exhibit distinct biophysical properties compared to non-oscillating cells, including higher and more sustained circularity, lower motility, and reduced contractility.Cell aggregates exhibit similar trends in response to rigidity, except for significantly increased oscillation percentages across different rigidity conditions, suggesting a potential interplay between cell-cell communications and rigidity in influencing cell aggregate behavior.