New model to characterise cell-substrate adhesion in the presence of osmosis.

A simple model of cell-substrate adhesion, in response to osmosis change, is derived to describe quantitatively the interrelationships between osmotic inflation, contact area and angle, membrane stretching and adhesion strength. As the cell inflates, the contact area shrinks in dimension, until the cell is eventually lifted off the substrate. The theoretical prediction is consistent with other published data.