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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

A Protocol for Using Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-force Biosensors to Measure Mechanical Forces across the Nuclear LINC Complex
Published on: April 11, 2017
Restriction of receptor movement alters cellular response: physical force sensing by EphA2
Khalid Salaita1, Pradeep M Nair, Rebecca S Petit
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Abstract:
Activation of the EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase by ephrin-A1 ligands presented on apposed cell surfaces plays important roles in development and exhibits poorly understood functional alterations in cancer. We reconstituted this intermembrane signaling geometry between live EphA2-expressing human breast cancer cells and supported membranes displaying laterally mobile ephrin-A1. Receptor-ligand binding, clustering, and subsequent lateral transport within this junction were observed. EphA2 transport can be blocked by physical barriers nanofabricated onto the underlying substrate. This physical reorganization of EphA2 alters the cellular response to ephrin-A1, as observed by changes in cytoskeleton morphology and recruitment of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 10. Quantitative analysis of receptor-ligand spatial organization across a library of 26 mammary epithelial cell lines reveals characteristic differences that strongly correlate with invasion potential. These observations reveal a mechanism for spatio-mechanical regulation of EphA2 signaling pathways.
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