This image illustrates cup formation on a phagocyte membrane during particle engulfment. Our modelling shows that membrane tension, a key but often overlooked physical factor, strongly influences phagocytic progression and can explain frustrated phagocytosis observed experimentally. We further show that biochemical signaling feeds back on membrane mechanics to reshape engulfment dynamics and enhance particle capture. These findings highlight the interplay between mechanics and signaling in phagocytosis, with implications for immunity, cell migration, and drug delivery. Shadmani et al. 2026
Image Credit: Peyman Shadmani and Behzad Mehrafrooz
Education Articles
Training biologists in Unix command-line skills: From curriculum to interactive online tutorials
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014133
Ten simple rules for postdoctoral mums to stay competitive in academia
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 8, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014145
Ten simple rules for organising an effective student-led writing retreat
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 13, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014147
Ten common mistakes that could ruin your enrichment analysis
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014122
Nine quick tips for software containerization
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 24, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014197
Perspective
Ten simple rules for mentoring and being mentored while neurodiverse
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 24, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013917
Research Articles
Explaining attractive and repulsive biases in the subjective visual vertical
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 1, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014159
Multidimensional scaling informed by F-statistic: Visualizing grouped microbiome data with inference
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 1, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014102
Predictive modeling of gene expression and localization of DNA binding site using deep convolutional neural networks
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 1, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014092
Opposing cortical forces: Alpha slowing and sensorimotor mu acceleration during motor-related BCI training
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 1, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014112
Identifying the optimal rapid antigen test for screening and determining the end of isolation: A modeling study
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 2, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013102
Emergence of multifrequency activity in a laminar neural mass model
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014022
In silico assessment of arrhythmic risk following the implantation of engineered heart tissues in porcine hearts with varying infarct locations
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013740
Directional and disruptive selection in populations structured by class and continuous ontogeny under incomplete plasticity
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013591
Using cell-specific late-phase asthma mRNA biomarkers to repurpose drugs that concurrently reverse disease signatures across multiple immune cell-types
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014081
A Bayesian modelling framework for estimating tick-borne pathogen transmission dynamics at the host-tick interface
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014146
Exploring neural manifolds across a wide range of intrinsic dimensions
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014162
Clustering single-cell multi-omics data via weighted distance penalty and adaptive consistent graph regularization
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014110
Subunit-specific behavioral modulation of sensory tuning in the visual cortex
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 6, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014123
Modeling spatial contrast sensitivity in responses of primate retinal ganglion cells to natural movies
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 7, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014157
Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant spread and the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 8, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013562
A framework for constructing insect steering circuits
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 8, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014009
A biophysical model of phagocytic cup dynamics: The effect of membrane tension
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 8, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014148
PhageCGRNet: Integrating Chaos Game Representation of Genomes with Convolutional Neural Network for accurate phage host classification prediction
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 9, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014130
Dynamic cholinergic signaling differentially desynchronizes cortical microcircuits dependent on modulation rate and network connectivity
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 10, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013252
Rural-to-urban migrant worker mobility shaped measles epidemics in China
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 10, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014182
Efficiency, accuracy and robustness of probability generating function based parameter inference method for stochastic biochemical reactions
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 10, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014160
Nonlinear effects of noise on outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 13, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013466
Activity-dependent neuromodulation and calcium homeostasis cooperate to produce robust and modulable neuronal function
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014177
Forecastability of infectious disease time series: are some seasons and pathogens intrinsically more difficult to forecast?
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014175
How muscle ageing affects rapid goal-directed movement: mechanistic insights from a simple model
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014023
On the role of L-type Ca2+ and BK channels in a biophysical model of cartwheel interneurons
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013382
How the visual brain can learn to parse images using a multiscale, incremental grouping process
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014193
Perceptual prediction error supports implicit process in motor learning
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014196
Unveiling gene perturbation effects through gene regulatory networks inference from single-cell transcriptomic data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 15, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014067
Developmental and aging changes in brain network switching dynamics revealed by EEG phase synchronization
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 16, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013290
Systematic prioritization of potential therapeutic targets for glomerulonephritis using multi-omics Mendelian randomization
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 16, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014174
Coherent cross-modal generation of synthetic biomedical data to advance multimodal precision medicine
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 16, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013455
A phase-field model for vesicle membranes incorporating area-difference elasticity
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 17, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014185
Double-CRISPR Knockout Simulation (DKOsim): A Monte-Carlo randomization system to model cell growth behavior and infer the optimal library design for growth-based double knockout screens
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 17, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013510
‘Backpropagation and the brain’ realized in cortical error neuron microcircuits
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 17, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014164
La benchmarking large language models for extracting biobank-derived insights into health and disease
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014224
Effects of sensorimotor delays and muscle force capacity limits on the performance of feedforward and feedback control in animals of different sizes
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 21, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012502
Spatio–temporal modelling of in vitro influenza A virus infection: The impact of defective interfering particles on the type I interferon response
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014198
DMAPLM: A multimodal pretrained framework for computational drug repositioning
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014192
Ensemble forecasts of COVID-19 activity to support Australia’s pandemic response: 2020–22
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014199
Sharing the spotlight: Uncovering common attentional dynamics across species
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014191
Enhancing generalizability of model discovery across parameter space with multi-experiment equation learning for biological systems
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014161
Monotherapy cancer drug-blind response prediction is limited to intraclass generalization
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013232
Using experimental results of protein design to guide biomolecular energy-function development
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014215
Phase-field modeling of border cell cluster migration in Drosophila
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 22, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014176
Selective observation following betrayal shapes the social inference landscape
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 24, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014200
Structural mechanisms underlying distinct binding and activities of 18:0 and 18:1 lysophosphatidic acids at LPA1 receptor
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 24, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013825
STARCall integrates image stitching, alignment, and read calling to enable scalable analysis of in situ sequencing data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013689
How competition can drive allochronic divergence: A case study in the Marine Midge, Clunio marinus
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014235
One model to rule them all: Unification of voltage-gated potassium channel models via deep non-linear mixed effects modelling
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013078
Diversity in emergent cell locomotion from the coupling cytosolic and cortical Marangoni flows with reaction–diffusion dynamics
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014216
Leveraging mathematical models to predict and control T-cell activation
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013769
Systems biology analysis of vasodynamics in mouse cerebral arterioles during resting state and functional hyperemia
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013113
A multi-omics framework for survival mediation analysis of high-dimensional proteogenomic data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014217
Study of Protein-Protein Interactions in Septin Assembly: Multiple amphipathic helix domains cooperate in binding to the lipid membrane
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014230
Clustering of SARS-CoV-2 membrane proteins in lipid bilayer membranes
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014229
Refining biomarker-based clustering of cardiovascular inflammatory phenotypes in HIV using Recursive Feature Addition: A comparative evaluation approach
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014209
Bifurcation of neural firing patterns driven by potassium dynamics and neuron–electrode geometry during high-frequency stimulation
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 28, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014228
CASER: A semi-supervised model with multi-omics data integration prioritizes cancer-associated epigenetic regulator genes
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 28, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014253
MsgaBpred: A B-cell epitope predictor integrating AlphaFold3-predicted structures with multi-scale GCNs and pre-trained language model ESM-C
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 28, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014195
Stochastic intracellular calcium dynamics show preserved structures identified by deep learning classification
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014240
Polyandry: A threat or an opportunity for the sterile insect technique?
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014212
Individual and population level uncertainty interact to determine the performance of outbreak surveillance systems
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013309
Computational insights on the molecular interplay between KRas (G12D mutation) and SOS1 modulated by the inhibitor BI-3406
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014213
Evolutionary Kuramoto dynamics unravels origins of chimera states in neural populations
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014214
Population dynamics of generalist and specialist strategies under feast-famine cycles
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014265
Complexity of resting cortical activity predicts neurophysiological responses to theta-burst stimulation but fails to generalize: A rigorous machine-learning approach
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014154
Evaluating the utility of amino acid similarity-aware kmers to represent TCR repertoires for classification
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014211
Learning the bistable cortical dynamics of the sleep-onset period
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014246
Corrections
Correction: A computational framework to study EGFR signaling distribution in egg chambers during dynamic interactions between soma and germline
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 3, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014155
Related Articles
Correction: The Burr distribution as a model for the delay between key events in an individual’s infection history
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 6, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014163
Related Articles
Methods
A surface morphology-based inference method for the cell wall elasticity profile in tip-growing cells
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 2, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013532
A standardized workflow for kinetic metabolic model curation and dissemination
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 20, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014227
Automating population construction and parallel simulation of biophysical models for neuromuscular cells: An inverse approach
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 24, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014184
PICDGI: A framework for predicting cancer driver genes through dynamic gene-gene interaction modeling of single-cell data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 27, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014143
QoALa: A comprehensive workflow for viral quasispecies diversity comparison using long-read sequencing data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 28, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014208
Semi-parametric empirical bayes method for multiplet detection in snATAC-seq with probabilistic multi-omic integration
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 29, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013653
Cell type annotation for scATAC-seq via DNA large language model and graph domain adaptation
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 30, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014226
Software
ntStat: k-mer characterization using occurrence statistics in raw sequencing data
PLOS Computational Biology: published April 1, 2026 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014158