Fig. 4: Actomyosin regulates the response of cell pairs in the ramp-and-hold experiments.

a Time series of F-actin in cells stretched to 50% strain at 50%s⁻¹ and 0.5%s⁻¹. Scale bar: 10 μm. b Relative change in F-actin intensity (i) and circular variance (CV) of F-actin fibers over time (ii) while the strain was kept constant within the confinement region. Scale bar: 10 μm. c Relative change in F-actin intensity (i) and the angle of fibers relative to the stretching direction over time within the gap region (90° is parallel to stretching direction) near the cell-cell junction while the strain was held constant. Scale bar: 10 μm. d The evolution of stress over time in control (N = 10, orange) and Jasplakinolide (Jas) treated (N = 13, brown) cell pairs stretched at 50%s⁻¹ – 125% strain (average of all curves for each condition ± s.e). e The average of the B vs C values calculated from fitting individual curves for the Jas treated cell pairs and the control condition on a semi logarithmic scale. Inset shows the clustered B vs C values where solid triangles and hollow circles represent tensioned and relaxed responses, respectively. f The probability of tensioning for the control and Jas treated cell pairs in response to 125% strain applied at 50%s⁻¹. g The evolution of stress over time in control (N = 40, green), Bleb (N = 10, olive green), Y-27632 (N = 7, purple), and Lat B (N = 16, pink) treated cell pairs stretched at 25%s⁻¹ to 50% (average of all curves for each condition ± s.e.). h The corresponding B vs C values calculated and clustered for the data presented in (g). i The probability of tensioning for the cell pairs treated with actomyosin modulators and the control condition in response to 50% strain applied at 25%s⁻¹.