Recovery of elasticity of aged human epithelial cells in vitro

We recently found a considerable increase in rigidity of human epithelial cells during aging in vitro. This is important because the loss in elasticity of epithelial tissues with aging contributes to many human diseases. We also found that cultured cells had three distinct regions of rigidity and that the increase in rigidity correlated with an increase in density of cytoskeletal fibers. However, it was not clear which type of fiber was important. Atomic force microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy were used in this study to characterize aging human epithelial cells in vitro, both before and after treatment with cytochalasin B. We found that the fibers associated with increased rigidity were mostly F-actin microfilaments. Furthermore, using cytochalasin B, a chemical that inhibits polymerization of F-actin, we restored the rigidity of old cells to the young level in all three areas of rigidity simultaneously. These results clarify how the cell mechanics changes during aging in vitro, and they may be relevant for treatment of age-related loss of elasticity in epithelial tissues.