Dresden 2014 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 7: Posters: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration
BP 7.48: Poster
Montag, 31. März 2014, 17:30–19:30, P3
Force-induced nuclear shape changes in suspended cells — •Chii Jou Chan1,2 and Jochen Guck1,2 — 1Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, UK — 2Biotechnology Center, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
While studies in the past on nuclear mechanotransduction have focused mostly on adherent cells attached to rigid substrates, we study how physical stress propagates and regulates nuclear shape changes for cells in suspended state using an optical stretcher. Intriguingly, we observed distinctly different nuclear response for both naturally suspended and adherent cells, when the cells were subjected to external mechanical stress. Specifically, the cell nucleus of a naturally suspended cell undergoes compression in response to membrane stretch while the cell nucleus for a naturally adherent cell experiences positive deformation, which correlates well with membrane stretch. Our studies suggest that while the vimentin intermediate filaments may play a dominant role in transmitting intracellular forces to cell nuclei of naturally suspended cells, the LINC complex found in many of the naturally adherent cells appear to regulate nuclear shape changes in response to whole cell deformation. Our findings shed new light on the different mechanical pathways from the force-responsive cytoskeleton to the nucleus which may lead to downstream cellular signaling events as the cells adapt to changes in the physical environment.