Journal
NANO LETTERS
Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 399-406Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b04364
Keywords
Mechanobiology; molecular force sensor; focal adhesion; micropillar substrate; rigidity sensing; cell traction force; vinculin
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council
- European Union/ERC [617233]
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche PillarCell [ANR 13-NANO-0011]
- USPC-NUS collaborative program
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR-10-BLAN-1515]
- France-BioImaging infrastructure [ANR-10-INBS-04]
- French National Research Agency [ANR-10-INBS-04]
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) [ANR-13-NANO-0011, ANR-10-BLAN-1515] Funding Source: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Focal adhesions (FAs) are important mediators of cell substrate interactions. One of their key functions is the transmission of forces between the intracellular acto-myosin network and the substrate. However, the relationships between cell traction forces, FA architecture, and molecular forces within FAs are poorly understood. Here, by combining Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based molecular force biosensors with micropillar-based traction force sensors and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, we simultaneously map molecular tension across vinculin, a key protein in FAs, and traction forces at FAs. Our results reveal strong spatiotemporal correlations between vinculin tension and cell traction forces at FAs throughout a wide range of substrate stiffnesses. Furthermore, we find that molecular tension within individual FAs follows a biphasic distribution from the proximal (toward the cell nucleus) to distal end (toward the cell-edge). Using super-resolution imaging, we show that such a distribution relates to that of FA proteins. On the basis of our experimental data, we propose a model in which FA dynamics results from tension changes along the FAs.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available