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Single Cell Durotaxis Assay for Assessing Mechanical Control of Cellular Movement and Related Signaling Events
Published on: August 27, 2019
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Intracellular nonequilibrium fluctuating stresses indicate how nonlinear cellular mechanical properties adapt to
Ming-Tzo Wei1, Sabrina S Jedlicka1,2, H Daniel Ou-Yang3,4
1Department of Bioengineering, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA.
Scientific Reports
|April 5, 2020
Summary
Cells adjust their internal stiffness based on the rigidity of their environment. This stiffness increases with intracellular stress, revealing how cells manage mechanical integrity by regulating internal forces.
Area of Science:
- Cellular mechanics
- Biophysics
- Cytoskeletal dynamics
Background:
- Living cells are thermodynamically nonequilibrium systems, driven by intracellular molecular motors that consume chemical energy.
- These motors generate stresses and reorganize the cytoskeleton, enabling cell movement and division.
- Previous research lacked direct measurements of intracellular stresses, limiting understanding of cellular mechanical regulation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel experimental approach for measuring intracellular stresses and cellular stiffness.
- To investigate the relationship between environmental rigidity, intracellular stress, and cellular stiffness.
- To explore how motor protein activity influences cellular mechanical responses.
Main Methods:
- Development of a new experimental technique to directly measure intracellular stresses.
- Correlation analysis of fluctuations in cellular stiffness and intracellular stresses.
- Systematic variation of environmental rigidity and motor protein activity.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was found between intracellular stress and cellular stiffness.
- Cellular stiffness was observed to be dependent on environmental rigidity.
- The stiffness-stress relationship remained consistent across varying environmental rigidity and motor protein activity.
Conclusions:
- Cells regulate their internal mechanical integrity by adjusting intracellular stress in response to their microenvironment.
- Environmental rigidity influences cellular stiffness through modulation of intracellular stress.
- Motor protein activity plays a key role in the cell's mechanical response to its surroundings.
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