Orientational polarizability and stress response of biological cells

We present a theoretical treatment of the orientational response to external stress of active, contractile cells embedded in a gel-like elastic medium. The theory includes random forces as well as forces that arise from the deformation of the matrix and those due to the internal regulation of the stress fibers and focal adhesions of the cell. We calculate both the static and high frequency limits of the orientational response in terms of the cellular polarizability. For systems in which the forces due to regulation and activity dominate the mechanical forces, we show that there is a non-linear dynamical response which, in the high frequency limit, causes the cell to orient nearly perpendicular to the direction of the applied stress.