Elastic properties of epithelial cells probed by atomic force microscopy

Harnessing atomic force microscopy-based single-cell analysis to advance physical oncology

Single-cell analysis is an emerging and promising frontier in the field of life sciences, which is expected to facilitate the exploration of fundamental laws of physiological and pathological processes. Single-cell analysis allows experimental access to cell-to-cell heterogeneity to reveal the distinctive behaviors of individual cells, offering novel opportunities to dissect the complexity of severe human diseases such as cancers. Among the single-cell analysis tools, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful and versatile one which is able to nondestructively image the fine topographies and quantitatively measure multiple mechanical properties of single living cancer cells in their native states under aqueous conditions with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution. Over the past few decades, AFM has been widely utilized to detect the structural and mechanical behaviors of individual cancer cells during the process of tumor formation, invasion, and metastasis, yielding numerous unique insights into tumor pathogenesis from the biomechanical perspective and contributing much to the field of cancer mechanobiology. Here, the achievements of AFM-based analysis of single cancer cells to advance physical oncology are comprehensively summarized, and challenges and future perspectives are also discussed. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Achievements of AFM in characterizing the structural and mechanical behaviors of single cancer cells are summarized, and future directions are discussed. AFM is not only capable of visualizing cellular fine structures, but can also measure multiple cellular mechanical properties as well as cell-generated mechanical forces. There is still plenty of room for harnessing AFM-based single-cell analysis to advance physical oncology.

The mechanical influence of densification on epithelial architecture

Epithelial tissues are the most abundant tissue type in animals, lining body cavities and generating compartment barriers. The function of a monolayered epithelial tissue-whether protective, secretory, absorptive, or filtrative-relies on the side-by-side arrangement of its component cells. The mechanical parameters that determine the shape of epithelial cells in the apical-basal plane are not well-understood. Epithelial tissue architecture in culture is intimately connected to cell density, and cultured layers transition between architectures as they proliferate. This prompted us to ask to what extent epithelial architecture emerges from two mechanical considerations: A) the constraints of densification and B) cell-cell adhesion, a hallmark feature of epithelial cells. To address these questions, we developed a novel polyline cell-based computational model and used it to make theoretical predictions about epithelial architecture upon changes to density and cell-cell adhesion. We tested these predictions using cultured cell experiments. Our results show that the appearance of extended lateral cell-cell borders in culture arises as a consequence of crowding-independent of cell-cell adhesion. However, cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion is associated with a novel architectural transition. Our results suggest that this transition represents the initial appearance of a distinctive epithelial architecture. Together our work reveals the distinct mechanical roles of densification and adhesion to epithelial layer formation and provides a novel theoretical framework to understand the less well-studied apical-basal plane of epithelial tissues.

Mechanical properties of epithelial cells in domes investigated using atomic force microscopy

As epithelial cells in vitro reach a highly confluent state, the cells often form a microscale dome-like architecture that encloses a fluid-filled lumen. The domes are stabilized by mechanical stress and luminal pressure. However, the mechanical properties of cells that form epithelial domes remain poorly characterized at the single-cell level. In this study, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure the mechanical properties of cells forming epithelial domes. AFM showed that the apparent Young's modulus of cells in domes was significantly higher when compared with that in the surrounding monolayer. AFM also showed that the stiffness and tension of cells in domes were positively correlated with the apical cell area, depending on the degree of cell stretching. This correlation disappeared when actin filaments were depolymerized or when the ATPase activity of myosin II was inhibited, which often led to a large fluctuation in dome formation. The results indicated that heterogeneous actomyosin structures organized by stretching single cells played a crucial role in stabilizing dome formation. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanical properties of three-dimensional deformable tissue explored using AFM at the single-cell level.

Visualization of Cell Membrane Tension Regulated by the Microfilaments as a "Shock Absorber" in Micropatterned Cells

The extracellular stress signal transmits along the cell membrane-cytoskeleton-focal adhesions (FAs) complex, regulating the cell function through membrane tension. However, the mechanism of the complex regulating membrane tension is still unclear. This study designed polydimethylsiloxane stamps with specific shapes to change the actin filaments' arrangement and FAs' distribution artificially in live cells, visualized the membrane tension in real time, and introduced the concept of information entropy to describe the order degree of the actin filaments and plasma membrane tension. The results showed that the actin filaments' arrangement and FAs' distribution in the patterned cells were changed significantly. The hypertonic solution resulted in the plasma membrane tension of the pattern cell changing more evenly and slowly in the zone rich in cytoskeletal filaments than in the zone lacking filaments. In addition, the membrane tension changed less in the adhesive area than in the non-adhesive area when destroying the cytoskeletal microfilaments. This suggested that patterned cells accumulated more actin filaments in the zone where FAs were difficult to generate to maintain the stability of the overall membrane tension. The actin filaments act as shock absorbers to cushion the alternation in membrane tension without changing the final value of membrane tension.

The Mechanical Influence of Densification on Initial Epithelial Architecture

Epithelial tissues are the most abundant tissue type in animals, lining body cavities and generating compartment barriers. The function of a monolayer epithelium - whether protective, secretory, absorptive, or filtrative -relies on regular tissue architecture with respect to the apical-basal axis. Using an unbiased 3D analysis pipeline developed in our lab, we previously showed that epithelial tissue architectures in culture can be divided into distinct developmental categories, and that these are intimately connected to cell density: at sparse densities, cultured epithelial cell layers have a squamous morphology (Immature); at intermediate densities, these layers develop lateral cell-cell borders and rounded cell apices (Intermediate); cells at the highest densities reach their full height and demonstrate flattened apices (Mature). These observations prompted us to ask whether epithelial architecture emerges from the mechanical constraints of densification, and to what extent a hallmark feature of epithelial cells, namely cell-cell adhesion, contributes. In other words, to what extent is the shape of cells in an epithelial layer a simple matter of sticky, deformable objects squeezing together? We addressed this problem using a combination of computational modeling and experimental manipulations. Our results show that the first morphological transition, from Immature to Intermediate, can be explained simply by cell crowding. Additionally, we identify a new division (and thus transition) within the Intermediate category, and find that this second morphology relies on cell-cell adhesion.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) Applications in Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is an inherited heart muscle disorder characterized by progressive replacement of cardiomyocytes by fibrofatty tissue, ventricular dilatation, cardiac dysfunction, arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. Interest in molecular biomechanics for these disorders is constantly growing. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a well-established technic to study the mechanobiology of biological samples under physiological and pathological conditions at the cellular scale. However, a review which described all the different data that can be obtained using the AFM (cell elasticity, adhesion behavior, viscoelasticity, beating force, and frequency) is still missing. In this review, we will discuss several techniques that highlight the potential of AFM to be used as a tool for assessing the biomechanics involved in ACM. Indeed, analysis of genetically mutated cells with AFM reveal abnormalities of the cytoskeleton, cell membrane structures, and defects of contractility. The higher the Young’s modulus, the stiffer the cell, and it is well known that abnormal tissue stiffness is symptomatic of a range of diseases. The cell beating force and frequency provide information during the depolarization and repolarization phases, complementary to cell electrophysiology (calcium imaging, MEA, patch clamp). In addition, original data is also presented to emphasize the unique potential of AFM as a tool to assess fibrosis in cardiac tissue.

Viscoelastic properties of epithelial cells

Epithelial cells form tight barriers that line both the outer and inner surfaces of organs and cavities and therefore face diverse environmental challenges. The response to these challenges relies on the cells' dynamic viscoelastic properties, playing a pivotal role in many biological processes such as adhesion, growth, differentiation, and motility. Therefore, the cells usually adapt their viscoelastic properties to mirror the environment that determines their fate and vitality. Albeit not a high-throughput method, atomic force microscopy is still among the dominating methods to study the mechanical properties of adherent cells since it offers a broad range of forces from Piconewtons to Micronewtons at biologically significant time scales. Here, some recent work of deformation studies on epithelial cells is reviewed with a focus on viscoelastic models suitable to describe force cycle measurements congruent with the architecture of the actin cytoskeleton. The prominent role of the cortex in the cell's response to external forces is discussed also in the context of isolated cortex extracts on porous surfaces.

The functional cross talk between cancer cells and cancer associated fibroblasts from a cancer mechanics perspective

The function of biological tissues in health and disease is regulated at cellular level and is highly influenced by the physical microenvironment, through the interaction of forces between cells and ECM, which are perceived through mechanosensing pathways. In cancer, both chemical and physical signaling cascades and their interactions are involved during cell-cell and cell-ECM communications to meet requirements of tumor growth. Among stroma cells, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play key role in tumor growth and pave the way for cancer cells to initiate metastasis and invasion to other tissues, and without recruitment of CAFs, the process of cancer invasion is dysfunctional. This is through an intense chemical and physical cross talks with tumor cells, and interactive remodeling of ECM. During such interaction CAFs apply traction forces and depending on the mechanical properties, deform ECM and in return receive physical signals from the micromechanical environment. Such interaction leads to ECM remodeling by manipulating ECM structure and its mechanical properties. The results are in form of deposition of extra fibers, stiffening, rearrangement and reorganization of fibrous structure, and degradation which are due to a complex secretion and expression of different markers triggered by mechanosensing of tumor cells, specially CAFs. Such events define cancer progress and invasion of cancer cells. A systemic knowledge of chemical and physical factors provides a holistic view of how cancer process and enhances the current treatment methods to provide more diversity among targets that involves tumor cells and ECM structure.

Human mammary epithelial cells in a mature, stratified epithelial layer flatten and stiffen compared to single and confluent cells

BACKGROUND

The epithelium forms a protective barrier against external biological, chemical and physical insults. So far, AFM-based, micro-mechanical measurements have only been performed on single cells and confluent cells, but not yet on cells in mature layers.

METHODS

Using a combination of atomic force, fluorescence and confocal microscopy, we determined the changes in stiffness, morphology and actin distribution of human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) as they transition from single cells to confluency to a mature layer.

RESULTS

Single HMECs have a tall, round (planoconvex) morphology, have actin stress fibers at the base, have diffuse cortical actin, and have a stiffness of 1 kPa. Confluent HMECs start to become flatter, basal actin stress fibers start to disappear, and actin accumulates laterally where cells abut. Overall stiffness is still 1 kPa with two-fold higher stiffness in the abutting regions. As HMECs mature and form multilayered structures, cells on apical surfaces become flatter (apically more level), wider, and seven times stiffer (mean, 7 kPa) than single and confluent cells. The main drivers of these changes are actin filaments, as cells show strong actin accumulation in the regions where cells adjoin, and in the apical regions.

CONCLUSIONS

HMECs stiffen, flatten and redistribute actin upon transiting from single cells to mature, confluent layers.

GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE

Our findings advance the understanding of breast ductal morphogenesis and mechanical homeostasis.

Physico-chemical studies of elastic compliance and adsorption of DOPC vesicles and its mixture with charged lipids at fluid/solid interface

Lipid bilayer mechanics is crucial to membrane dynamics and in design of liposomes for delivery applications. In this work, vesicles of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) (size from 50 nm to 1 μm) and its mixtures with anionic 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'-rac-glycerol) sodium salt (DOPG) and cationic dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DODAB), have been studied under shear stress at fluid/solid interface and their elastic compliance evaluated. Results show that the rate of spreading of the smaller vesicles (∼70 nm) is about 1.4 times slower than those of larger ones (∼1 μ) and that DOPC has the highest elastic compliance compared with DOPC + DOPG and DOPC + DODAB vesicles. A direct correlation between the elastic compliance and the size of the vesicles shows larger vesicles are more structurally labile during adsorption and subsequent adhesion to solid surfaces than the smaller ones. Specific role of bound water in DODAB is reflected in the lowest elastic compliance of DODAB compared to other lipids. Results show that during the process of adhesion at the fluid/air interface, the vesicles undergo contraction, thereby transmitting mechanical stresses to their microenvironment, which matches the SAXS electron density profiles that indicates larger vesicles have thicker bilayer membranes with larger volume of water compared to the smaller sized ones.

Dynamic mechanics of HK-2 cell reaction to HG stimulation studied by atomic force microscopy

Renal tubular cell injury by exposure to high glucose (HG) stimulation mainly accounts for diabetic nephropathy (DN). To understand the mechanism of injury by HG, quantitative characterization has commonly focused on the cells that are already impaired, which ignores the signals for the process of being injured. In this study, the architecture and morphology of HK-2 cells were observed dynamically by multiple imaging methods. AFM (atomic force microscopy)-based single-cell force spectroscopy was employed to investigate the dynamic mechanics quantitatively. The results showed that the Young's modulus increased continuously from 2.44 kPa up to 4.15 kPa for the whole period of injury by HG, while the surface adhesion decreased from 2.43 nN to 1.63 nN between 12 h and 72 h. In addition, the actin filaments of HK-2 cells exposed to HG depolymerized and then nucleated with increasing Young's modulus. The absence of cell pseudopodia coincided with the reduced cell adhesion, strongly suggesting close relationships between the cell architecture, morphology and mechanical properties. Furthermore, the stages of cell reactions were identified and assessed. Overall, the dynamic mechanics of the cells facilitate the identification of injured cells and the assessment of the degree of injury for accurate diagnoses and treatments.

G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor Regulates Actin Cytoskeleton Dynamics to Impair Cell Polarization

Mechanical forces regulate cell functions through multiple pathways. G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) is a seven-transmembrane receptor that is ubiquitously expressed across tissues and mediates the acute cellular response to estrogens. Here, we demonstrate an unidentified role of GPER as a cellular mechanoregulator. G protein-coupled estrogen receptor signaling controls the assembly of stress fibers, the dynamics of the associated focal adhesions, and cell polarization via RhoA GTPase (RhoA). G protein-coupled estrogen receptor activation inhibits F-actin polymerization and subsequently triggers a negative feedback that transcriptionally suppresses the expression of monomeric G-actin. Given the broad expression of GPER and the range of cytoskeletal changes modulated by this receptor, our findings position GPER as a key player in mechanotransduction.

Cell Mechanics in Embryoid Bodies

Embryoid bodies (EBs) resemble self-organizing aggregates of pluripotent stem cells that recapitulate some aspects of early embryogenesis. Within few days, the cells undergo a transition from rather homogeneous epithelial-like pluripotent stem cell colonies into a three-dimensional organization of various cell types with multifaceted cell-cell interactions and lumen formation-a process associated with repetitive epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. In the last few years, culture methods have further evolved to better control EB size, growth, cellular composition, and organization-e.g., by the addition of morphogens or different extracellular matrix molecules. There is a growing perception that the mechanical properties, cell mechanics, and cell signaling during EB development are also influenced by physical cues to better guide lineage specification; substrate elasticity and topography are relevant, as well as shear stress and mechanical strain. Epithelial structures outside and inside EBs support the integrity of the cell aggregates and counteract mechanical stress. Furthermore, hydrogels can be used to better control the organization and lineage-specific differentiation of EBs. In this review, we summarize how EB formation is accompanied by a variety of biomechanical parameters that need to be considered for the directed and reproducible self-organization of early cell fate decisions.

Pay attention to membrane tension: Mechanobiology of the cell surface

The cell surface is a mechanobiological unit that encompasses the plasma membrane, its interacting proteins, and the complex underlying cytoskeleton. Recently, attention has been directed to the mechanics of the plasma membrane, and in particular membrane tension, which has been linked to diverse cellular processes such as cell migration and membrane trafficking. However, how tension across the plasma membrane is regulated and propagated is still not completely understood. Here, we review recent efforts to study the interplay between membrane tension and the cytoskeletal machinery and how they control cell form and function. We focus on factors that have been proposed to affect the propagation of membrane tension and as such could determine whether it can act as a global or local regulator of cell behavior. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the available tool kit as new approaches that reveal its dynamics in cells are needed to decipher how membrane tension regulates diverse cellular processes.

Recent Advances on the Model, Measurement Technique, and Application of Single Cell Mechanics

Since the cell was discovered by humans, it has been an important research subject for researchers. The mechanical response of cells to external stimuli and the biomechanical response inside cells are of great significance for maintaining the life activities of cells. These biomechanical behaviors have wide applications in the fields of disease research and micromanipulation. In order to study the mechanical behavior of single cells, various cell mechanics models have been proposed. In addition, the measurement technologies of single cells have been greatly developed. These models, combined with experimental techniques, can effectively explain the biomechanical behavior and reaction mechanism of cells. In this review, we first introduce the basic concept and biomechanical background of cells, then summarize the research progress of internal force models and experimental techniques in the field of cell mechanics and discuss the latest mechanical models and experimental methods. We summarize the application directions of cell mechanics and put forward the future perspectives of a cell mechanics model.

Alveolar mimics with periodic strain and its effect on the cell layer formation

We report on the development of a new model of alveolar air-tissue interface on a chip. The model consists of an array of suspended hexagonal monolayers of gelatin nanofibers supported by microframes and a microfluidic device for the patch integration. The suspended monolayers are deformed to a central displacement of 40-80 µm at the air-liquid interface by application of air pressure in the range of 200-1,000 Pa. With respect to the diameter of the monolayers, that is, 500 µm, this displacement corresponds to a linear strain of 2-10% in agreement with the physiological strain range in the lung alveoli. The culture of A549 cells on the monolayers for an incubation time of 1-3 days showed viability in the model. We exerted a periodic strain of 5% at a frequency of 0.2 Hz for 1 hr to the cells. We found that the cells were strongly coupled to the nanofibers, but the strain reduced the coupling and induced remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton, which led to a better tissue formation. Our model can serve as a versatile tool in lung investigations such as in inhalation toxicology and therapy.

The effect of lipid phase on liposome stability upon exposure to the mechanical stress

Mechanical properties of a lipid bilayer are parameters determined mainly for giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). It is not clear if values obtained on the GUV model can be directly translated to submicron large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). This ambiguity is a major obstacle in exploring the effect of lipid bilayer mechanics on membrane associated processes and effectiveness of liposome-based targeted drug delivery systems. In presented work extrusion, which is a common method to prepare LUVs, was used to study liposomes preparation and stability upon exposure to mechanical stress. The effect of parameters of the extrusion process (temperature, membrane pore size, extrusion force and volumetric flux) on the properties of liposome suspension (average liposome size, polydispersity index and lipid recovery ratio) was determined for model liposomes composed of DPPC lipid. The state of the DPPC lipid bilayer depends on temperature, therefore, the effect of lipid bilayer mechanics on the extrusion process can be quantitated without altering membrane composition. The extrusion process was carried out with the automated extruder delivering quantitative data on the extrusion force and volumetric flux. Obtained results have been interpreted in terms of mechanical properties of the lipid bilayer. Determined mechanical properties of the lipid bilayer and its dependence on temperature are in good agreement with the literature results determined for GUVs. This shows that mechanical properties of the lipid bilayer does not depend on the liposome size in the range from 100 nm to hundreds of microns.

Mechanical adaptions of collective cells nearby free tissue boundaries

Mechanical adaptions of cells, including stiffness variation, cytoskeleton remodeling, motion coordination, and shape changing, are essential for tissue morphogenesis, wound healing, and malignant progression. In this paper, we take confluent monolayers of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) and mouse myoblast (C2C12) cells as model systems to probe how cells collectively adapt their mechanical features in response to a free tissue boundary. We show that the free boundary not only can trigger unjamming transition but also induces cell fluidization nearby the boundary. The Young's moduli of cells near the boundary are found to be much lower than those of interior cells. We demonstrate that the stiffness of cells in monolayers with a free tissue boundary exhibits negative dependence on the projected cell area, in contrast to previous studies where cells were found to stiffen as cellular area increases in a confluent MDCK monolayer without boundary. In addition, the free tissue boundary may activate cell remodeling, rendering volume enlargement and cell-specified cytoskeleton organization. Our study emphasizes the important role of geometrical boundary in regulating biomechanical properties of cell aggregates.

Stiffness Sensing by Cells

Physical stimuli are essential for the function of eukaryotic cells, and changes in physical signals are important elements in normal tissue development as well as in disease initiation and progression. The complexity of physical stimuli and the cellular signals they initiate are as complex as those triggered by chemical signals. One of the most important, and the focus of this review, is the effect of substrate mechanical properties on cell structure and function. The past decade has produced a nearly exponentially increasing number of mechanobiological studies to define how substrate stiffness alters cell biology using both purified systems and intact tissues. Here we attempt to identify common features of mechanosensing in different systems while also highlighting the numerous informative exceptions to what in early studies appeared to be simple rules by which cells respond to mechanical stresses.

Cellular Blebs and Membrane Invaginations Are Coupled through Membrane Tension Buffering

Bleb-type cellular protrusions play key roles in a range of biological processes. It was recently found that bleb growth is facilitated by a local supply of membrane from tubular invaginations, but the interplay between the expanding bleb and the membrane tubes remains poorly understood. On the one hand, the membrane area stored in tubes may serve as a reservoir for bleb expansion. On the other hand, the sequestering of excess membrane in stabilized invaginations may effectively increase the cell membrane tension, which suppresses spontaneous protrusions. Here, we investigate this duality through physical modeling and in vivo experiments. In agreement with observations, our model describes the transition into a tube-flattening mode of bleb expansion while also predicting that the blebbing rate is impaired by elevating the concentration of the curved membrane proteins that form the tubes. We show both theoretically and experimentally that the stabilizing effect of tubes could be counterbalanced by the cortical myosin contractility. Our results largely suggest that proteins able to induce membrane tubulation, such as those containing N-BAR domains, can buffer the effective membrane tension-a master regulator of all cell deformations.

Beyond proteases: Basement membrane mechanics and cancer invasion

In epithelial cancers, cells must invade through basement membranes (BMs) to metastasize. The BM, a thin layer of extracellular matrix underlying epithelial and endothelial tissues, is primarily composed of laminin and collagen IV and serves as a structural barrier to cancer cell invasion, intravasation, and extravasation. BM invasion has been thought to require protease degradation since cells, which are typically on the order of 10 µm in size, are too large to squeeze through the nanometer-scale pores of the BM. However, recent studies point toward a more complex picture, with physical forces generated by cancer cells facilitating protease-independent BM invasion. Moreover, collective cell interactions, proliferation, cancer-associated fibroblasts, myoepithelial cells, and immune cells are all implicated in regulating BM invasion through physical forces. A comprehensive understanding of BM structure and mechanics and diverse modes of BM invasion may yield new strategies for blocking cancer progression and metastasis.

Stiffness of MDCK II Cells Depends on Confluency and Cell Size

Mechanical phenotyping of adherent cells has become a serious tool in cell biology to understand how cells respond to their environment and eventually to identify disease patterns such as the malignancy of cancer cells. In the steady state, homeostasis is of pivotal importance, and cells strive to maintain their internal stresses even in challenging environments and in response to external chemical and mechanical stimuli. However, a major problem exists in determining mechanical properties because many techniques, such as atomic force microscopy, that assess these properties of adherent cells locally can only address a limited number of cells and provide elastic moduli that vary substantially from cell to cell. The origin of this spread in stiffness values is largely unknown and might limit the significance of measurements. Possible reasons for the disparity are variations in cell shape and size, as well as biological reasons such as the cell cycle or polarization state of the cell. Here, we show that stiffness of adherent epithelial cells rises with increasing projected apical cell area in a nonlinear fashion. This size stiffening not only occurs as a consequence of varying cell-seeding densities, it can also be observed within a small area of a particular cell culture. Experiments with single adherent cells attached to defined areas via microcontact printing show that size stiffening is limited to cells of a confluent monolayer. This leads to the conclusion that cells possibly regulate their size distribution through cortical stress, which is enhanced in larger cells and reduced in smaller cells.

Polarization of Myosin II Refines Tissue Material Properties to Buffer Mechanical Stress

As tissues develop, they are subjected to a variety of mechanical forces. Some of these forces are instrumental in the development of tissues, while others can result in tissue damage. Despite our extensive understanding of force-guided morphogenesis, we have only a limited understanding of how tissues prevent further morphogenesis once the shape is determined after development. Here, through the development of a tissue-stretching device, we uncover a mechanosensitive pathway that regulates tissue responses to mechanical stress through the polarization of actomyosin across the tissue. We show that stretch induces the formation of linear multicellular actomyosin cables, which depend on Diaphanous for their nucleation. These stiffen the epithelium, limiting further changes in shape, and prevent fractures from propagating across the tissue. Overall, this mechanism of force-induced changes in tissue mechanical properties provides a general model of force buffering that serves to preserve the shape of tissues under conditions of mechanical stress.

Mechanical interactions among followers determine the emergence of leaders in migrating epithelial cell collectives

Regulating the emergence of leaders is a central aspect of collective cell migration, but the underlying mechanisms remain ambiguous. Here we show that the selective emergence of leader cells at the epithelial wound-margin depends on the dynamics of the follower cells and is spatially limited by the length-scale of collective force transduction. Owing to the dynamic heterogeneity of the monolayer, cells behind the prospective leaders manifest locally increased traction and monolayer stresses much before these leaders display any phenotypic traits. Followers, in turn, pull on the future leaders to elect them to their fate. Once formed, the territory of a leader can extend only to the length up-to which forces are correlated, which is similar to the length up-to which leader cells can transmit forces. These findings provide mechanobiological insight into the hierarchy in cell collectives during epithelial wound healing.

During collective cell migration, how leader cells emerge is poorly understood. Here, the authors find that small groups of mechanically-interacting follower cells pull on the future leaders to stochastically elect them to their fate.

Structural centrosome aberrations promote non-cell-autonomous invasiveness

Centrosomes are the main microtubule‐organizing centers of animal cells. Although centrosome aberrations are common in tumors, their consequences remain subject to debate. Here, we studied the impact of structural centrosome aberrations, induced by deregulated expression of ninein‐like protein (NLP), on epithelial spheres grown in Matrigel matrices. We demonstrate that NLP‐induced structural centrosome aberrations trigger the escape (“budding”) of living cells from epithelia. Remarkably, all cells disseminating into the matrix were undergoing mitosis. This invasive behavior reflects a novel mechanism that depends on the acquisition of two distinct properties. First, NLP‐induced centrosome aberrations trigger a re‐organization of the cytoskeleton, which stabilizes microtubules and weakens E‐cadherin junctions during mitosis. Second, atomic force microscopy reveals that cells harboring these centrosome aberrations display increased stiffness. As a consequence, mitotic cells are pushed out of mosaic epithelia, particularly if they lack centrosome aberrations. We conclude that centrosome aberrations can trigger cell dissemination through a novel, non‐cell‐autonomous mechanism, raising the prospect that centrosome aberrations contribute to the dissemination of metastatic cells harboring normal centrosomes.

A microfluidic biochip for locally confined stimulation of cells within an epithelial monolayer

A key factor determining the fate of individual cells within an epithelium is the unique microenvironment that surrounds each cell. It regulates location-dependent differentiation into specific cellular sub-types, but, on the other hand, a disturbed microenvironment can promote malignant transformation of epithelial cells leading to cancer formation. Here, we present a tool based on a microfluidic biochip that enables novel research approaches by providing a means to control the basolateral microenvironment of a confined number of neighbouring cells within an epithelial monolayer. Through isolated single pores in a thin membrane carrying the epithelial cell layer only cells above the pores are stimulated by solutes. The very thin design of the biochip (<75 μm) enabled us to apply a high-resolution inverted confocal fluorescence microscope to show by live cell imaging that such a manipulation of the microenvironment remained locally restricted to cells located above the pores. In addition, the biochip allows access for the force probe of an atomic force microscope (AFM) from the apical side to determine the topography and mechanical properties of individual cells, which we demonstrated by combined AFM and fluorescence microscopy imaging experiments. Taken together, the presented microfluidic biochip is a powerful tool that will enable studying the initial steps of malignant transformation of epithelial cells by directly manipulating their microenvironment and by real-time monitoring of affected cells with fluorescence microscopy and AFM.

We developed a microfluidic biochip that enables one to locally change the basolateral microenvironment of epithelial cells within a polarised monolayer.

AFM-based detection of glycocalyx degradation and endothelial stiffening in the db/db mouse model of diabetes

Degradation of the glycocalyx and stiffening of endothelium are important pathophysiological components of endothelial dysfunction. However, to our knowledge, these events have not been investigated in tandem in experimental diabetes. Here, the mechanical properties of the glycocalyx and endothelium in ex vivo mouse aorta were determined simultaneously in indentation experiments with an atomic force microscope (AFM) for diabetic db/db and control db/+ mice at ages of 11–19 weeks. To analyze highly heterogeneous aorta samples, we developed a tailored classification procedure of indentation data based on a bi-layer brush model supplemented with Hertz model for quantification of nanomechanics of endothelial regions with and without the glycocalyx surface. In db/db mice, marked endothelial stiffening and reduced glycocalyx coverage were present already in 11-week-old mice and persisted in older animals. In contrast, reduction of the effective glycocalyx length was progressive and was most pronounced in 19-week-old db/db mice. The reduction of the glycocalyx length correlated with an increasing level of glycated haemoglobin and decreased endothelial NO production. In conclusion, AFM nanoindentation analysis revealed that stiffening of endothelial cells and diminished glycocalyx coverage occurred in early diabetes and were followed by the reduction of the glycocalyx length that correlated with diabetes progression.

Viscoelastic Properties of Confluent MDCK II Cells Obtained from Force Cycle Experiments

The local mechanical properties of cells are frequently probed by force indentation experiments carried out with an atomic force microscope. Application of common contact models provides a single parameter, the Young’s modulus, to describe the elastic properties of cells. The viscoelastic response of cells, however, is generally measured in separate microrheological experiments that provide complex shear moduli as a function of time or frequency. Here, we present a straightforward way to obtain rheological properties of cells from regular force distance curves collected in typical force indentation measurements. The method allows us to record the stress-strain relationship as well as changes in the weak power law of the viscoelastic moduli. We derive an analytical function based on the elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle applied to Hertzian contact mechanics to model both indentation and retraction curves. Rheological properties are described by standard viscoelastic models and the paradigmatic weak power law found to interpret the viscoelastic properties of living cells best. We compare our method with atomic force microscopy-based active oscillatory microrheology and show that the method to determine the power law coefficient is robust against drift and largely independent of the indentation depth and indenter geometry. Cells were subject to Cytochalasin D treatment to provoke a drastic change in the power law coefficient and to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach to capture rheological changes extremely fast and precisely. The method is easily adaptable to different indenter geometries and acquires viscoelastic data with high spatiotemporal resolution.

Comparison of ultrastructural and nanomechanical signature of platelets from acute myocardial infarction and platelet activation

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) initiation and progression follow complex molecular and structural changes in the nanoarchitecture of platelets. However, it remains poorly understood how the transformation from health to AMI alters the ultrastructural and biomechanical properties of platelets within the platelet activation microenvironment. Here, we show using an atomic force microscope (AFM) that platelet samples, including living human platelets from the healthy and AMI patient, activated platelets from collagen-stimulated model, show distinct ultrastructural imaging and stiffness profiles. Correlative morphology obtained on AMI platelets and collagen-activated platelets display distinct pseudopodia structure and nanoclusters on membrane. In contrast to normal platelets, AMI platelets have a stiffer distribution resulting from complicated pathogenesis, with a prominent high-stiffness peak representative of platelet activation using AFM-based force spectroscopy. Similar findings are seen in specific stages of platelet activation in collagen-stimulated model. Further evidence obtained from different force measurement region with activated platelets shows that platelet migration is correlated to the more elasticity of pseudopodia while high stiffness at the center region. Overall, ultrastructural and nanomechanical profiling by AFM provides quantitative indicators in the clinical diagnostics of AMI with mechanobiological significance.

The mechanical properties of a cell-based numerical model of epithelium

In this work we use a computational cell-based model to study the influence of the mechanical properties of cells on the mechanics of epithelial tissues. We analyze the effect of the model parameters on the elasticity and the mechanical response of tissues subjected to stress loading application. We compare our numerical results with experimental measurements of epithelial cell monolayer mechanics. Unlike previous studies, we have been able to estimate in physical units the parameter values that match the experimental results. A key observation is that the model parameters must vary with the tissue strain. In particular, it was found that, while the perimeter contractility and the area elasticity of cells remain constant at lower strains (<20%), they must increase to respond to larger strains (>20%). However, above a threshold of 50% extension, the cells stop counteracting the tissue strain and reduce both their perimeter contractility and area elasticity.