Determining mechanical features of modulated epithelial monolayers using subnuclear particle tracking

作者：Armiger Travis J; Lampi Marsha C; Reinhart King Cynthia A; Dahl Kris Noel^*

来源：Journal of Cell Science, 2018, 131(12): UNSP jcs216010.

DOI：10.1242/jcs.216010

• Mechanobiology
• Cell mechanics
• Cell rheology
• Cell structure
• Substrate stiffness

Force generation within cells, mediated by motor proteins along cytoskeletal networks, maintains the function of multicellular structures during homeostasis and when generating collective forces. Here, we describe the use of chromatin dynamics to detect cellular force propagation a technique termed SINK (sensors from intranuclear kinetics)] and investigate the force response of cells to disruption of the monolayer and changes in substrate stiffness. We find that chromatin dynamics change in a substrate stiffness-dependent manner within epithelial monolayers. We also investigate point defects within monolayers to map the impact on the strain field of a heterogeneous monolayer. We find that cell monolayers behave as a colloidal assembly rather than as a continuum since the data fit an exponential decay; the lateral characteristic length of recovery from the mechanical defect is similar to 50 mu m for cells with a 10 mu m spacing. At distances greater than this characteristic length, cells behave similarly to those in a fully intact monolayer. This work demonstrates the power of SINK to investigate diseases including cancer and atherosclerosis that result from single cells or heterogeneities in monolayers.

• 出版日期2018-6