Data for: Rigidity sensing of inclusions directs differentiated cell elongation and force generation across phenotypes

Fibrosis is driven in part by the transition of healthy fibroblasts to a contractile phenotype, called myofibroblasts. The mechanics of the extracellular matrix play a crucial role in regulating the cell fates and behaviors during this transition. However, most studies to date focus on cells grown on 2D surfaces and matrices with homogeneous properties. This leaves open how local rigidity differentially regulates the behaviors of both phenotypes in 3D environments, including polarization, contraction, and maintenance of phenotypes, during remodeling. Here, we engineer 3D microgel-in-collagen composites by embedding low-volume fractions of cell-scale microgels with two levels of rigidity, mimicking healthy and pathological tissues, that are stiffer than the surrounding collagen but do not significantly change the bulk modulus. We find that microgels serve as mechanical centers: both phenotypes polarize toward microgel inclusions. The polarization response decays as a power-law with dista..., , # General README for Dataset

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## Overview

This repository (Dryad.zip) contains all data, scripts, and analyses supporting the results presented in the associated publication: 'Rigidity sensing of inclusions directs differentiated cell elongation and force generation across phenotypes' by Yuxin Luo and Yimin Luo. Each figure has a corresponding folder, which includes raw data, processed data, and analysis scripts used to generate the figure panels.

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## General Notes

### Dataset Organization

The dataset is organized by figure, with each folder named according to its corresponding figure (e.g., Figure_3, Figure_4, etc.). Each figure folder has contents as follows:

### Data Contents

* **MATLAB Scripts**: Primarily used for figure generation, statistical analysis, and visualization. These scripts are self-contained and reproduce the corresponding figure panels when run. They are prefixed with the figure number (e.g., `Figure_7b.m`, `Figure_7d.m`).
* **Processed Data (CSV files...,