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We investigate the mechanical interplay between the spatial organization ofthe actin cytoskeleton and the shape of animal cells adhering on micropillararrays. Using a combination of analytical work, computer simulations and invitro experiments, we demonstrate that the orientation of the stress fibersstrongly influences the geometry of the cell edge. In the presence of auniformly aligned cytoskeleton, the cell edge can be well approximated byelliptical arcs, whose eccentricity reflects the degree of anisotropy of thecell's internal stresses. Upon modeling the actin cytoskeleton as a nematicliquid crystal, we further show that the geometry of the cell edge feeds backon the organization of the stress fibers by altering the length scale at whichthese are confined. This feedback mechanism is controlled by a dimensionlessnumber, the anchoring number, representing the relative weight ofsurface-anchoring and bulk-aligning torques. Our model allows to predict bothcellular shape and the internal structure of the actin cytoskeleton and is ingood quantitative agreement with experiments on fibroblastoid(GD$\beta$1,GD$\beta$3) and epithelioid (GE$\beta$1, GE$\beta$3) cells.

Mechanical interplay between cell shape and actin cytoskeleton organization