Gap junctional intercellular communication and cytoskeletal organization in chondrocytes in suspension in an ultrasound trap

Particles or cells suspended in an appropriately designed ultrasound standing wave field can be aggregated at a node to form a single monolayer in a plane that can be interrogated microscopically. The approach is applied here to investigate the temporal development of F-actin and Cx43 distribution and of gap junctional intercellular communication in 2-D chondrocyte aggregates (monolayers) rapidly and synchronously formed and held in suspension in an ultrasound trap. Development of the F-actin cytoskeleton in the confluent single layer of 'cuboidal' cells forming the aggregate was completed within 1 h. Chondrocytes levitated in the trap synchronously formed functional gap junctions ( as assessed by CMFDA dye transfer assays) in less than 1 h of initiation of cell-cell contact in the trap. It was shown that Cx43 gene expression was retained in isolated chondrocytes in suspension. Preincubation of cells with the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide caused a six-fold decrease in Cx43 accumulation (as assessed by immunofluorescence) at the interfaces of chondrocytes in the aggregate. It is shown that the ultrasound trap provides an approach to studying the early stages of cytoskeletal and gap junction development as cells progress from physical aggregation, through molecular adhesion, to display the intracellular consequences of receptor interactions.