Nanomechanical analysis of insulinoma cells after glucose and capsaicin stimulation using atomic force microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy for the Study of Cell Mechanics in Pharmaceutics

Cell mechanics is gaining attraction in drug screening, but the applicable methods have not yet become part of the standardized norm. This review presents the current state of the art for atomic force microscopy, which is the most widely available method. The field is first motivated as a new way of tracking pharmaceutical effects, followed by a basic introduction targeted at pharmacists on how to measure cellular stiffness. The review then moves on to the current state of the knowledge in terms of experimental results and supplementary methods such as fluorescence microscopy that can give relevant additional information. Finally, rheological approaches as well as the theoretical interpretations are presented before ending on additional methods and outlooks.

Responses of INS-1 cells to glucose stimulation patterns

Diabetes has become a major public health problem in the world for many years, and it is driving us to probe into its complex mechanism of insulin secretion in pancreatic β cells. The nanoscale resolution characterization of pancreatic β cells in response to glucose led to insights into diverse mechanical and functional processes at the single cell level. Recent advances allowed the direct observations of cytoskeleton dynamics which were quantitatively determined. Here, we firstly performed the glucose stimulation with multiple physiologically relevant glucose patterns. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) produced high spatial resolution mechanical images together with the insulin secretions linking the physical interactions to the biochemical process of INS-1 cells. Altered material properties of the INS-1 cells revealed the regulation of multiple glucose stimulation patterns. Rapidly responded to high glucose (HG), INS-1 cells presented the unique meshing networks of elasticities. The decreases of Young's modulus (YM) and insulin secretion suggested that mechanical changes affected the insulin release. Furthermore, the frequency and gradient of glucose patterns induced nanomechanical and secreting changes of the INS-1 cells and gained the knowledge on the potential controllability of glucose. The relationships between the cellular mechanics and insulin secretion of INS-1 cells could contribute to establish a mechanical cell model for the study of β cells in diabetes. The results also indicated the cell mechanics as promising mechanical biomarkers for β cells, and promoted the understanding of specific mechanical mechanism of glucose regulation, which lighted on the further application of functional glucose regulation in therapy.

Investigating dynamic structural and mechanical changes of neuroblastoma cells associated with glutamate-mediated neurodegeneration

Glutamate-mediated neurodegeneration resulting from excessive activation of glutamate receptors is recognized as one of the major causes of various neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms in the neurodegenerative process remain unidentified. Here, we investigate the real-time dynamic structural and mechanical changes associated with the neurodegeneration induced by the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (a subtype of glutamate receptors) at the nanoscale. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is employed to measure the three-dimensional (3-D) topography and mechanical properties of live SH-SY5Y cells under stimulus of NMDA receptors. A significant increase in surface roughness and stiffness of the cell is observed after NMDA treatment, which indicates the time-dependent neuronal cell behavior under NMDA-mediated neurodegeneration. The present AFM based study further advance our understanding of the neurodegenerative process to elucidate the pathways and mechanisms that govern NMDA induced neurodegeneration, so as to facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.

Role for the TRPV1 channel in insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells

Transient receptor potential channels have been put forward as regulators of insulin secretion. A role for the TRPV1 ion channel in insulin secretion has been suggested in pancreatic beta cell lines. We explored whether TRPV1 is functionally expressed in RINm5F and primary beta cells from neonate and adult rats. We examined if capsaicin could activate cationic non-selective currents. Our results show that TRPV1 channels are not functional in insulin-secreting cells, since capsaicin did not produce current activation, not even under culture conditions known to induce the expression of other ion channels in these cells. Although TRPV1 channels seem to be irrelevant for the physiology of isolated beta cells, they may play a role in glucose homeostasis acting through the nerve fibers that regulate islet function. At the physiological level, we observed that Trpv1 (-/-) mice presented lower fasting insulin levels than their wild-type littermates, however, we did not find differences between these experimental groups nor in the glucose tolerance test or in the insulin secretion. However, we did find that the Trpv1 (-/-) mice exhibited a higher insulin sensitivity compared to their wild-type counterparts. Our results demonstrate that TRPV1 does not contribute to glucose-induced insulin secretion in beta cells as was previously thought, but it is possible that it may control insulin sensitivity.

Amplification of AngII-dependent cell contraction by glyoxal: implication of cell mechanical properties and actomyosin activity

Glyoxal (GO), a highly reactive metabolite of glucose, is associated with diabetic vascular complications via the formation of advanced glycation end-products. Considering its ability to react with proteins' amino acids and its crosslinking potential, we suggest that GO affects cellular mechanical functions such as contractility. Therefore, we tested the effects of GO on cellular contractile response following AngII stimulation of human embryonic kidney cells over-expressing the AT1 receptor (HEK 293 AT1aR). Prior to cell stimulation with AngII, cells exposed to GO exhibited carboxymethyllysine-adduct formation and an increase in cellular stiffness, which could be prevented by pre-treatment with aminoguanidine. The time-dependent cellular contractile response to AngII was measured by monitoring cell membrane displacement by atomic force atomic force microscopy (AFM) and by quantifying myosin light chain phosphorylation (p-MLC) via immunoblotting. Interestingly, short-term GO exposure increased by 2.6 times the amplitude of cell contraction induced by AngII and this was also associated with a sustained rise in p-MLC. This increased response to AngII induced by GO appears to be linked to its glycation potential, as aminoguanidine pre-treatment prevented this increased cellular mechanical response. Our results also suggest that GO could have an impact on ROCK activity, as ROCK inhibition with Y-27632 blocked the enhanced contractile response (p = 0.011) measured under GO conditions. Together, these results indicate that GO enhances the cellular response to AngII and modifies cellular mechanical properties via a mechanism that relies on its glycation potential and on the activation of the ROCK-dependent pathway.

Measurement of cationic and intracellular modulation of integrin binding affinity by AFM-based nanorobot

Integrins are dynamic transmembrane cation-dependent heterodimers that both anchor cells in position and transduce signals into and out of cells. We used an atomic force microscope (AFM)-based nanorobotic system to measure integrin-binding forces in intact human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. The AFM-based nanorobot enables human-directed, high-accuracy probe positioning and site-specific investigations. Functionalizing the AFM probe with an arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD)-containing sequence (consensus binding sequence for integrins) allowed us to detect a series of peptide-cell membrane interactions with a median binding force of 115.1 ± 4.9 pN that were not detected in control interactions. Chelating divalent cations from the culture medium abolished these interactions, as did inhibiting intracellular focal adhesion kinase (FAK) using Y15. Adding 1 mM Mg(2+) to the medium caused a rightward shift in the force-binding curve. Adding 1 mM Ca(2+) virtually abolished the RGD-membrane specific interactions and blocked the Mg(2+) effects. Cell adhesion assays demonstrated parallel effects of divalent cations and the FAK inhibitor on cell adhesion. These results demonstrate direct modulation of integrin-binding affinity by both divalent cations and intracellular signal inhibition. Additionally, three binding states (nonspecific, specific inactivated, and specific activated) were delineated from affinity measurements. Although other research has assumed that this process of integrin conformational change causes altered ligand binding, in this work we directly measured these three states in individual integrins in a physiologically based study.

Cellular biophysical dynamics and ion channel activities detected by AFM-based nanorobotic manipulator in insulinoma β-cells

Distinct biochemical, electrochemical and electromechanical coupling processes of pancreatic β-cells may well underlie different response patterns of insulin release from glucose and capsaicin stimulation. Intracellular Ca(2+) levels increased rapidly and dose-dependently upon glucose stimulation, accompanied with about threefold rapid increases in cellular stiffness. Subsequently, cellular stiffness diminished rapidly and settled at a value about twofold of the baseline. Capsaicin caused a similar transient increase in intracellular Ca(2+) changes. However, cellular stiffness increased gradually to about twofold until leveling off. The current study characterizes for the first time the biophysical properties underlying glucose-induced biphasic responses of insulin secretion, distinctive from the slow and single-phased stiffness response to capsaicin despite similar changes in intracellular Ca(2+) levels. The integrated AFM nanorobotics and optical investigation enables the fine dissection of mechano-property from ion channel activities in response to specific and non-specific agonist stimulation, providing novel biomechanical markers for the insulin secretion process.

FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR

This study characterizes the biophysical properties underlying glucose-induced biphasic responses of insulin secretion. Integrated AFM nanorobotics and optical investigations provided novel biomechanical markers for the insulin secretion process.

Cellular-level surgery using nano robots

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a popular instrument for studying the nano world. AFM is naturally suitable for imaging living samples and measuring mechanical properties. In this article, we propose a new concept of an AFM-based nano robot that can be applied for cellular-level surgery on living samples. The nano robot has multiple functions of imaging, manipulation, characterizing mechanical properties, and tracking. In addition, the technique of tip functionalization allows the nano robot the ability for precisely delivering a drug locally. Therefore, the nano robot can be used for conducting complicated nano surgery on living samples, such as cells and bacteria. Moreover, to provide a user-friendly interface, the software in this nano robot provides a "videolized" visual feedback for monitoring the dynamic changes on the sample surface. Both the operation of nano surgery and observation of the surgery results can be simultaneously achieved. This nano robot can be easily integrated with extra modules that have the potential applications of characterizing other properties of samples such as local conductance and capacitance.