---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '22955'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: The regulation of 3D cell shape is a fundamental problem of life. In multicellular
    tissues, cell shape emerges through the balance of forces inside and outside the
    cell. In epithelia, the basement membrane (BM) is the first extracellular barrier
    that cells sense biochemically and mechanically. Despite this, little is known
    about how BM mechanical properties are regulated and how they impact cell shape.
    Through mathematical modeling, we show that the stress relaxation time of the
    BM can regulate cell shape. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that
    the stress relaxation time of a collagen IV network can be inferred from the lifetime
    of collagen IV molecules. To measure collagen IV lifetime in vivo, we develop
    a fluorescent timer reporter for collagen IV and show that perlecan modifies collagen
    IV lifetime. This cross-disciplinary approach establishes a multiscale framework
    to probe matrix turnover, and its regulation and function in cell shape control.
acknowledgement: "We thank all members of the Mao lab for insightful discussions throughout
  the project, and we thank Giulia Paci and Nargess Khalilgharibi for critical reading
  of the manuscript. We thank Jonathan Chubb for molecular biology guidance and WellGenetics
  for generating the timer protein fly lines.\r\nR.B. was funded by a UCL COMPLEX
  PhD studentship and a Leverhulme Trust project grant RPG-2020-068 awarded to Y.M.
  B.M. and A.S. were funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation
  programme (ERC starting grant no. 802960). S.B. was funded by NIH R35 GM143042.
  G.C. was funded by EPSRC Physics of Life, grants EP/W023806 and EP/W023865. B.J.S.S.
  and B.M.S. are funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant no. 301803/Z/23/Z to B.M.S.).
  E.K.P. was funded by the Medical Research Council UK (MRC programme award MC_UU_12018/5).
  Y.M. was funded by MRC award MR/W027437/1, a Lister Institute Research Prize, and
  the EMBO Young Investigator Programme."
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Ricardo
  full_name: Barrientos, Ricardo
  last_name: Barrientos
- first_name: Billie
  full_name: Meadowcroft, Billie
  id: a4725fd6-932b-11ed-81e2-c098c7f37ae1
  last_name: Meadowcroft
  orcid: 0000-0003-3441-1337
- first_name: Besaiz J.
  full_name: Sánchez-Sánchez, Besaiz J.
  last_name: Sánchez-Sánchez
- first_name: Brian M.
  full_name: Stramer, Brian M.
  last_name: Stramer
- first_name: Ewa K.
  full_name: Paluch, Ewa K.
  last_name: Paluch
- first_name: Guillaume
  full_name: Charras, Guillaume
  last_name: Charras
- first_name: Shiladitya
  full_name: Banerjee, Shiladitya
  last_name: Banerjee
- first_name: Anđela
  full_name: Šarić, Anđela
  id: bf63d406-f056-11eb-b41d-f263a6566d8b
  last_name: Šarić
  orcid: 0000-0002-7854-2139
- first_name: Yanlan
  full_name: Mao, Yanlan
  last_name: Mao
citation:
  ama: Barrientos R, Meadowcroft B, Sánchez-Sánchez BJ, et al. Basement membrane turnover
    controls cell shape. <i>Cell</i>. 2026;189(18):5611-5624.e4. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010">10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010</a>
  apa: Barrientos, R., Meadowcroft, B., Sánchez-Sánchez, B. J., Stramer, B. M., Paluch,
    E. K., Charras, G., … Mao, Y. (2026). Basement membrane turnover controls cell
    shape. <i>Cell</i>. Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010</a>
  chicago: Barrientos, Ricardo, Billie Meadowcroft, Besaiz J. Sánchez-Sánchez, Brian
    M. Stramer, Ewa K. Paluch, Guillaume Charras, Shiladitya Banerjee, Anđela Šarić,
    and Yanlan Mao. “Basement Membrane Turnover Controls Cell Shape.” <i>Cell</i>.
    Elsevier, 2026. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010</a>.
  ieee: R. Barrientos <i>et al.</i>, “Basement membrane turnover controls cell shape,”
    <i>Cell</i>, vol. 189, no. 18. Elsevier, p. 5611–5624.e4, 2026.
  ista: Barrientos R, Meadowcroft B, Sánchez-Sánchez BJ, Stramer BM, Paluch EK, Charras
    G, Banerjee S, Šarić A, Mao Y. 2026. Basement membrane turnover controls cell
    shape. Cell. 189(18), 5611–5624.e4.
  mla: Barrientos, Ricardo, et al. “Basement Membrane Turnover Controls Cell Shape.”
    <i>Cell</i>, vol. 189, no. 18, Elsevier, 2026, p. 5611–5624.e4, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010">10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010</a>.
  short: R. Barrientos, B. Meadowcroft, B.J. Sánchez-Sánchez, B.M. Stramer, E.K. Paluch,
    G. Charras, S. Banerjee, A. Šarić, Y. Mao, Cell 189 (2026) 5611–5624.e4.
das_tickbox: '1'
dataavailabilitystatement: "The fly line generated in this study is available from
  the lead contact without restriction.\r\nData and code availability\r\n•\r\nCollagen
  IV fluorescent timer image data and associated data analysis code have been deposited
  in the UCL Research Data Repository at https://doi.org/10.5522/04/32647191 and are
  publicly available as of the date of publication.\r\n•\r\nAll original code associated
  with the tissue mechanics model has also been deposited in the UCL Research Data
  Repository at https://doi.org/10.5522/04/32647191 and is publicly available as of
  the date of publication.\r\n•\r\nAll original code associated with the collagen
  IV network model has been deposited on Zenodo at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20719515
  and is publicly available as of the date of publication.\r\n•\r\nAny additional
  information reported in this paper is available from the lead contact upon request."
date_created: 2026-09-17T11:06:06Z
date_published: 2026-09-03T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-09-24T12:36:56Z
day: '03'
ddc:
- '570'
department:
- _id: AnSa
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
  pmid:
  - '42532043'
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 01e74f866223ca9ea8680b617d4aa4e3
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2026-09-24T12:35:11Z
  date_updated: 2026-09-24T12:35:11Z
  file_id: '22990'
  file_name: 2026_Cell_Barrientos.pdf
  file_size: 5642382
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-09-24T12:35:11Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2026.07.010
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '       189'
issue: '18'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 5611-5624.e4
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: eba2549b-77a9-11ec-83b8-a81e493eae4e
  call_identifier: H2020
  grant_number: '802960'
  name: 'Non-Equilibrium Protein Assembly: from Building Blocks to Biological Machines'
publication: Cell
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1097-4172
  issn:
  - 0092-8674
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: no
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: Basement membrane turnover controls cell shape
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 189
year: '2026'
...