Visualizing mechanical tension across membrane receptors with a fluorescent sensor

Area of Science:

• Cellular Mechanobiology
• Molecular Imaging
• Biophysics

Background:

• Cell surface proteins play critical roles in cellular signaling and mechanical force transmission.
• Understanding the forces exerted by these proteins is crucial for deciphering cellular processes like endocytosis.
• Existing methods lack the resolution to map these forces dynamically in living cells.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel fluorescence-based sensor for mapping mechanical strain from cell surface proteins.
• To achieve high spatial and temporal resolution in force mapping within living cells.
• To apply the sensor to visualize forces during epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) endocytosis.

Main Methods:

• Development of a fluorescence-based 'turn-on' sensor.
• Utilizing conventional fluorescence microscopy for imaging.
• Application in live-cell imaging to capture dynamic mechanical events.

Main Results:

• The sensor successfully generated force maps with high spatial and temporal resolution.
• Mechanical forces during the early stages of regulatory endocytosis were mapped.
• The approach demonstrated efficacy in visualizing forces associated with ligand-activated EGFR.

Conclusions:

• The developed sensor provides a powerful new tool for studying cellular mechanobiology.
• This technology enables detailed mapping of mechanical forces exerted by cell surface proteins.
• It offers insights into the mechanical regulation of receptor-mediated endocytosis.