CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- I. CELL MECHANICS -- Structural analysis of the motor protein prestin H. Wada, K. Iida, M. Murakoshi, S. Kumano, K. Tsumoto, K. Ikeda, I. Kumagai and T. Kobayashi -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Generation of Stable Cell Lines Expressing Prestin -- 2.1 Materials and methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Imaging by Atomic Force Microscopy of the Motor Protein Prestin -- 3.1 Materials and methods -- 3.2 Results and discussion -- 4 Mutational Analysis of the GTSRH Sequence of Prestin -- 4.1 Materials and methods -- 4.2 Results and discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Effects of cytoskeletal structures on elastic and viscoelastic properties of cells in soft tissues T. Matsumoto, K. Nagayama, H. Miyazaki and Y. Ujihara -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Contribution of AFs and MTs to Tensile Properties of Fibroblasts -- 2.1 Materials and methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Contribution of AFs to the Viscoelastic Properties of Single Isolated Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells -- 3.1 Micro tensile tester for stress relaxation test -- 3.2 Materials and methods -- 3.3 Analysis -- 3.4 Results and discussion -- 4 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Biomechanical properties of collagen gel associated with microvessel formation in vitro K. Tanishita, N. Yamamura, R. Sudo and M. Ikeda -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 2.1 Cell culture -- 2.2 Preparation of collagen gels -- 2.3 Measurement of Young's modulus (elasticity) of collagen gels -- 2.4 In vitro network formation model -- 3 Results -- 3.1 Mechanical properties of collagen gels depend on the pH of the collagen polymerization solution -- 3.2 Collagen gel elasticity affects the process of network formation by BPMECs -- 3.3 Collagen gel elasticity affects the structure of 3D networks formed by BPMECs -- 3.4 Cross sections of network structures.

4 Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Depth-dependent compressive behaviors of articular cartilage and chondrocytes T. Murakami, N. Sakai, Y. Sawae, M. Okamoto, I. Ishikawa, N. Hosoda and E. Suzuki -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 2.1 Visualization of chondrocytes and compression tests of articular cartilage in confocal laser scanning microscope -- 2.2 Finite element analyses for biphasic articular cartilage -- 3 Results -- 3.1 Visualization of chondrocytes and compression tests of articular cartilage in confocal laser scanning microscope -- 3.2 Finite element analyses for biphasic articular cartilage -- 4 Discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- II. CELL RESPONSE TO MECHANICAL STIMULATION -- Cytoskeletal reassembling and calcium signaling responses to mechanical perturbation in osteoblastic cells T. Adachi, K. Sato, M. Hojo and Y. Tomita -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Local Disassembly of Actin Stress Fibers Induced by Release of Tension -- 2.1 Materials and methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Measurement of Local Strain on Cell Membrane at Initiation Point of Calcium Signaling Response to Applied Mechanical Stimulus -- 3.1 Materials and methods -- 3.2 Results and discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Experimental estimation of preexisting tension in single actin stress fiber of vascular cells S. Deguchi, T. Ohashi and M. Sato -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Measurement of Preexisting Strain of Stress Fiber -- 2.1 Materials and methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Measurement of Tensile Properties of Stress Fiber -- 3.1 Materials and methods -- 3.2 Results and discussion -- 4 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Biophysical mechanisms of tension-dependent formation of stress fibers from actin meshwork H. Hirata, H. Tatsumi and M. Sokabe -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods.

2.1 Cell culture -- 2.2 Preparation of semi-intact cells -- 2.3 Fluorescence microscopy -- 2.4 Tracking and analysis of single Qdots movement -- 2.5 Dragging lamella -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- III. TISSUE ENGINEERING -- Effects of cyclic hydrostatic pressure loading on regulation of chondrocyte phenotypes A. Oura, M. Kawanishi, K. S. Furukawa and T. Ushida -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 2.1 Cartilage harvest and cell culture -- 2.2 Chondrocyte seeding on the chamber slides for hydrostatic pressure loading -- 2.3 Application of hydrostatic pressure to seeded chondrocytes -- 2.4 Gas analysis -- 2.5 Analysis of messenger RNA (mRNA) levels -- 2.6 Statistical analysis -- 3 Results -- 4 Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Effects of a shear flow and water filtration on the cell layer of a hybrid vascular graft X. He and T. Karino -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Materials and Methods -- 2.1 Materials -- 2.2 Methods -- 2.2.1 Preparation of a hybrid vascular graft -- 2.2.2 Perfusion culture of the cells of a hybrid graft -- 2.2.3 Measurements of the thickness of the cell layer and the number of the cells -- 2.2.4 Statistical analysis -- 3 Results -- 3.1 Gross observation of harvested grafts -- 3.2 Effects of a shear flow and water filtration on the thickness of the cell layer -- 3.3 Effects of a shear flow and water filtration on the number of cells -- 4 Discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Tissue reconstructions for motor organs with mechanically structured grafts K. Takakuda -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Reconstruction of Sharpey's Fibers - Attachment of Soft Fibrous Tissues to Hard Artificial Materials -- 2.1 Materials and methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Reconstruction of Insertion sites for Ligaments - Attachment of Soft Fibrous Artificial Materials to Bone Tissues.

3.1 Materials and methods -- 3.2 Results and discussion -- 4 Reconstruction of Small Diameter for Regeneration of Bone Tissues -- 4.1 Materials and methods -- 4.2 Results and discussion -- 5 Regeneration of Peripheral Nerves - Recovery of Motor Control -- 5.1 Materials and methods -- 5.2 Results and discussion -- 6 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- IV. COMPUTATIONAL BIOMECHANICS -- Microscopic analysis of bone M. Tanaka, T. Matsumoto and M. Todoh -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Microscopic View of Trabecular Bone -- 2.1 Trabecular hardness, mineral content, and their orientation-dependency -- 2.2 Local trabecular resorption and formation: Synchrotron radiation µCT study -- 3 Microscopic View of Cortical Bone -- 3.1 Microstructure of porous canal network in cortical bone -- 3.2 Transport in cortical bone through porous network: A model study -- 3.3 Local material and mechanical properties in cortical bone -- 4 Periosteal Microcirculation: Study of the Effect of Mechanical Unloading -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Computational biomechanics of blood flow in cardiovascular diseases T. Yamaguchi, T. Ishikawa, K. Tsubota, Y. Imai, D. Mori and N. Matsuki -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Mass Transport in Cerebral Aneurysms -- 2.1 Methods -- 2.2 Results and discussion -- 3 Platelet Aggregation in Blood Flow -- 3.1 Methods -- 3.2 Results and discussion -- 4 Particle Method for Computing Microcirculation -- 4.1 Methods -- 4.2 Results and discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Microstructural mechanism of skeletal muscle injury and a new constitutive model of skeletal muscle E. Tanaka, D. Ito, S. Yamamoto and K. Mizuno -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Mechanical Properties of Skeletal Muscle and Injury Mechanism -- 2.1 Muscle injury test system and procedure -- 2.2 Results of muscle injury tests.

3 Mechanical Properties of Microstructure of Skeletal Muscle -- 3.1 Micro mechanical test system and procedure -- 3.2 Results of micro mechanical tests of muscle fascicle -- 4 Formulation of a Constitutive Model -- 4.1 Free energy function and hypothesis of total energy equivalence -- 4.2 Damage evolution -- 4.3 Applicability of the proposed model -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Mechanical characteristics of vascular cells and tissues exposed to deformation, freezing and shock waves: Measurements and theoretical predictions H. Yamada, M. Tamagawa and H. Ishiguro -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Cellular Response to Substrate Stretching -- 2.1 Reorientation of actin stress fibers in response to cyclic stretching -- 2.2 Finite-element modeling of an adherent endothelial cell -- 3 Tissue Response to Freezing -- 3.1 Freezing-induced changes in the stress-strain relationship of vascular tissue -- 3.2 Mathematical description of the stress-strain relationship of the vascular tissue -- 3.3 Freezing behavior and histological change in vascular tissue -- 3.3.1 Materials and methods -- 3.3.2 Results and discussion (Fig. 6) -- 4 Cellular Response to Shock Waves -- 4.1 Materials and methods -- 4.2 Results and discussion -- 5 Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- SUBJECT INDEX.