Work

Data from: Mechanics of heterogeneous fiber networks

Year: 2026

Type: dataset

Abstract: Internally generated active stresses drive soft materials into architectures inaccessible to thermal self-assembly. We use a microtubule-based active fluid to assemble and irreversibly restructure actin-fascin networks. Subsequently, we probe the mesoscale mechanics of such networks by combining active microrheology with fluorescence imaging of the strain field around the probe. Increasing motor concentration broadens the pore-size distribution and thickens load-bearing bundles, raising the mean local elastic modulus and its spatial variability. Displacement fields of actively-processed networks propagate over longer range when compared to unprocessed networks. At large strains, both networks strain soften and plastically restructure. The combined microrheology and strain-imaging approach show that tunable active stresses reprogram the structure and viscoelastic response of fiber networks at the scale of their structural heterogeneity.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20128983

Authors: Choi, Kyu Hwan, Ray, Sattvic, Sweeney, Reef, Dogic, Zvonimir, Takatori, Sho C.

Institutions: Stanford University, University of Chicago, University of California, Santa Barbara

Language: English

Topic: Cellular Mechanics and Interactions

Subfield: Cell Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy

Awards: Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at UCSB, MACHINE LEARNING APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING AND CONTROLLING 3D ACTIVE MATTER

OpenAlex ID: W7160854296

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