Numerical investigation of the active role of the actin cytoskeleton in the compression resistance of cells

► 3D finite element implementation of active stress fibre constitutive formulation. ► Stress fibre growth, remodelling and contractility predicted for round and spread cells. ► Dominant fibres are predicted parallel to the long axis of polarised spread cells. ► Simulated compression of contractile cells agrees with experimental data. ► Stress fibres in spread cells increase compression resistance.