Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 6, 2025

Human Saphenous Vein Endothelial Cell Isolation and Exposure to Controlled Levels of Shear Stress and Stretch
Published on: April 21, 2023
Eukaryotic initiation factor 6 regulates mechanical responses in endothelial cells
Adam N Keen1,2, Luke A Payne1,2, Vedanta Mehta1,2
1Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
The eukaryotic initiation factor 6 (eIF6) regulates cellular mechanics by stabilizing key signaling proteins. Loss of eIF6 reduces cell stiffness and causes cytoskeletal defects, revealing a novel link between protein translation and mechanotransduction.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- The protein synthesis machinery performs extratranslational functions, including controlling cell signaling networks.
- Noncanonical roles of protein synthesis components in regulating cellular mechanics are largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of eukaryotic initiation factor 6 (eIF6) in cellular mechanobiology.
- To elucidate the mechanisms by which eIF6 influences cellular mechanics and mechanotransduction.
Main Methods:
- Traction force microscopy
- Atomic force microscopy
- Analysis of nascent protein synthesis, polysome profiles, and cytoskeleton protein expression
- Investigation of mechanocomplex formation
Main Results:
- eIF6 depletion in endothelial cells did not affect basal protein synthesis or ribosomal biogenesis but reduced cellular stiffness and force generation.
- Loss of eIF6 resulted in cytoskeletal defects and impaired focal adhesions.
- eIF6 is essential for the spatial mechanoactivation of ERK1/2 by stabilizing an eIF6-RACK1-ERK1/2-FAK mechanocomplex necessary for force-induced remodeling.
Conclusions:
- eIF6 possesses an extratranslational function in modulating cellular mechanobiology.
- A novel paradigm links protein translation machinery components, the cytoskeleton, and mechanotransduction pathways.
- eIF6 plays a critical role in force-induced cellular remodeling through the regulation of signaling complex assembly.
Related Concept Videos
Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...
Regulation of Angiogenesis and Blood Supply
Tension Response at Adherens Junctions
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin...
Mechanical Protein Functions
Mechanism of Filopodia Formation
Their main function is to guide migrating cells during normal tissue morphogenesis or cancer metastasis by recognizing and making initial contacts with the extracellular matrix. However, they can also act as stationary cell anchors or help to establish communication...
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...

