Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Analyzing Cell Surface Adhesion Remodeling in Response to Mechanical Tension Using Magnetic Beads

Analyzing Cell Surface Adhesion Remodeling in Response to Mechanical Tension Using Magnetic Beads

Published on: March 8, 2017

Dynamic Remodeling of Mechano-Sensing Complexes in Suspended Fibroblast Cell-Sheets Under External Mechanical

Madoka Suzuki¹, Keiko Kawauchi², Hiroaki Machiyama³

¹Institute for Protein Research, The University of Osaka, Suita, Osaka, Japan.

Biotechnology and Bioengineering

|April 24, 2025

Abstract

None:

Freestanding cell-sheets are valuable bio-materials for use in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Because cell-sheets experience various mechanical stimulations during handling, it is important to understand the responses of cells to these stimulations. Here, we demonstrate changes in the localization of various proteins during the stretching of fibroblast cell-sheets. These proteins are known to be involved in mechano-sensing. Upon stretching, actin filaments appear parallel to the stretching direction. At cell-cell junctions, β-catenin forms clusters that co-localize with accumulated vinculin and zyxin as well as the actin filaments. The p130 Crk-associated substrate, known to be present in focal adhesions, is also recruited to these clusters and phosphorylated. Our results suggest that mechano-sensing machinery is formed at cell-cell junctions when the cell-sheets are stretched.

Keywords:

cadherin catenin confocal fluorescence microscopy dual‐view mechanotransduction microneedle

More Related Videos

Live Cell Response to Mechanical Stimulation Studied by Integrated Optical and Atomic Force Microscopy

Live Cell Response to Mechanical Stimulation Studied by Integrated Optical and Atomic Force Microscopy

Published on: October 4, 2010

Single Cell Durotaxis Assay for Assessing Mechanical Control of Cellular Movement and Related Signaling Events

Single Cell Durotaxis Assay for Assessing Mechanical Control of Cellular Movement and Related Signaling Events

Published on: August 27, 2019

Related Concept Videos

Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces

Cell-matrix's Response to Mechanical Forces

In animal cells, the extracellular matrix allows cells within tissues to withstand external stresses and transmits signals from the outside of the cell to the inside. The extracellular matrix is extensive, and its composition varies between different types of tissues. For example, the reticular fibers and ground substance make up the ECM in loose connective tissue, while collagen and bone minerals make up the ECM of bone tissue.
Anchoring junctions mechanically attach a cell to the...

Tension Response at Adherens Junctions

Tension Response at Adherens Junctions

The adherens junctions that anchor cells together are multi-protein complexes that dynamically adapt to mechanical stimuli such as tensile forces and shear stress. Mechanosensory proteins in these junctions can sense such mechanical stimuli and undergo a shift in their conformation, resulting in an altered function — a process called mechanotransduction.
α-Catenin as a Mechanosensory Protein
The α-catenin of adherens junctions is an allosteric protein with three VH (vinculin...

Cell Motility through Blebbing

Cell Motility through Blebbing

Blebs are a type of membrane protrusion formed by the internal hydrostatic pressure of the cytoplasm. Blebs are observed in several cell types, including fibroblasts, immune cells, and single-celled organisms like the amoeba. The primary function of blebs is cell locomotion and apoptosis, but they are also found during necrosis and cell division. The life cycle of a bleb comprises an initiation phase followed by the expansion and retraction phases.
Blebbing Through the Matrix
In multicellular...

Mechanical Protein Functions

Mechanical Protein Functions

Proteins perform many mechanical functions in a cell. These proteins can be classified into two general categories- proteins that generate mechanical forces and proteins that are subjected to mechanical forces. Proteins providing mechanical support to the structure of the cell, such as keratin, are subjected to mechanical force, whereas proteins involved in cell movement and transport of molecules across cell membranes, such as an ion pump, are examples of generating mechanical force.

Actin Polymerization and Cell Motility

Actin Polymerization and Cell Motility

Actin is a family of globular proteins that are highly abundant in eukaryotic cells. It makes up approximately 1-5% of total cell protein concentration. Actin monomers polymerize to form a complex network of polarized filaments, the actin cytoskeleton, that plays a crucial role in many cellular processes, including cell motility, division, endocytosis, and metastasis of cancer cells.
Actin cytoskeleton dynamics can produce pushing, pulling, and resistance forces that help the cell to migrate....

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Loss of p53 Provokes NF-κB-Dependent Disruption of Nucleolar Cap and Nucleoplasmic Redistribution of Fibrillarin During Nucleolar Stress.

Biomolecules·2026

Phosphorylation of Runx protein controls helper CD4+ T cell versus cytotoxic CD8+ T cell lineage choice.

Nature immunology·2026

PD-1 suppresses CAR signaling by forming the inhibitory signalosome colocalizing to CAR microclusters.

Communications biology·2026

CD28-mediated linear and parallel costimulatory signaling cooperatively regulate CAR-T cell functions via CAR-CD28 microclusters.

Communications biology·2025

In vivo mechano-tissue engineering by hydrogels capable of transmitting intercellular mechanical stress.

Nature communications·2025

Spatiotemporal temperature control by holographic heating microscopy unveils cellular thermosensitive calcium signalling.

Lab on a chip·2025

See all related articles