1. Cell-specific mechanical properties

Biological cells, the smallest living entity, are capable of performing complex and varied functions, often influenced by their local environment and, in particular, its mechanical properties. This is the case, for example, with phenomena as diverse as cell adhesion and migration.

The mechanical properties of a cell are inextricably linked to the biochemical or genetic phenomena that it triggers, or is subjected to, by its environment. In addition to the complexity inherent in its structure, it is a living, "active" object, consuming energy and fundamentally out of equilibrium, capable of responding to a mechanical or biochemical solicitation, for example by modifying its adhesion or developing...