Figure 5

Correlation length of tractions and monolayer tension. (a) Representative color maps of the component of cell-to-substrate traction perpendicular to the monolayer edge for each substrate stiffness. (b,c) RMS traction (b) and average monolayer tension (c) for varied substrate stiffness. (d) Spatial autocorrelation of traction plotted as a function of separation distance r for cell layers on each substrate stiffness. (e) Correlation length of traction. (f) Autocorrelation of monolayer tension for each substrate stiffness. (g) Correlation length of monolayer tension. In panels d and f, lines and error bars show mean ± standard deviation over at least 4 independent samples. In panels (b,c,e,g), dots represent independent measurements, and horizontal lines indicate means.