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Spatiotemporal analysis of cell response to a rigidity gradient: a quantitative study using multiple optical tweezers
Myriam Allioux-Guérin1, Delphine Icard-Arcizet, Christiane Durieux
1Complexes Macromoléculaires en Cellules Vivantes, Institut Jacques Monod, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7592, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, 75251 Paris, France.
Single cells sense and adapt to rigidity gradients by altering adhesion forces. This response involves regulated actomyosin activity, maintaining cell-matrix interactions despite varying stiffness.
Area of Science:
- Cellular mechanics and biomechanics
- Biophysics of cell-matrix interactions
- Cytoskeletal dynamics and regulation
Background:
- Cells interact with their extracellular matrix (ECM) through adhesion sites.
- Cellular responses to mechanical cues are crucial for tissue development and disease.
- Understanding how cells perceive and respond to local ECM rigidity is key.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dynamic response of single fibroblast cells to controlled, low-magnitude rigidity gradients.
- To elucidate the role of actomyosin dynamics in adapting to mechanical stress at adhesion sites.
- To determine how cells regulate extracellular matrix-cytoskeleton linkages under varying stiffness.
Main Methods:
- Utilized optical traps to apply asymmetrical tensions (tens of pN x µm⁻¹) to fibronectin-coated latex beads at adhesion sites.
- Monitored real-time responses of single 3T3 fibroblast cells to these controlled mechanical stimuli.
- Quantified force exertion, trap stiffness, actin recruitment, and bead velocity within the traps.
Main Results:
- Cells detected rigidity gradients even at low tension levels, adapting force exerted at adhesion sites over time.
- Actomyosin recruitment was spatially and temporally regulated along the rigidity gradient.
- Cellular behavior maintained a constant bead velocity, independent of trap stiffness, indicating adaptive force regulation.
Conclusions:
- Cells dynamically adjust forces at adhesion sites in response to rigidity gradients.
- Actomyosin recruitment and adhesion area control are key mechanisms for strengthening ECM-cytoskeleton linkages.
- This regulation ensures stable cell-matrix interactions and constant extracellular matrix deformation.
