Cyclic loading induces anabolic gene expression in ACLs in a load-dependent and sex-specific manner

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are historically thought to be a result of a single acute overload or traumatic event. However, recent studies suggest that ACL failure may be a consequence of fatigue damage. Additionally, the remodeling response of ACLs to fatigue loading is unknown. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the remodeling response of ACLs to cyclic loading. Furthermore, given that women have an increased rate of ACL rupture, we investigated whether this remodeling response is sex specific. ACLs were harvested from male and female New Zealand white rabbits and cyclically loaded in a tensile bioreactor mimicking the full range of physiological loading (2, 4, and 8 MPa). Expression of markers for anabolic and catabolic tissue remodeling, as well as inflammatory cytokines, was quantified using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We found that the expression of markers for tissue remodeling of the ACL is dependent on the magnitude of loading and is sex specific. Male ACLs activated an anabolic response to cyclic loading at 4 MPa but turned off remodeling at 8 MPa. These data support the hypothesis that noncontact ACL injury may be a consequence of failed tissue remodeling and inadequate repair of microtrauma resulting from elevated loading. Compared to males, female ACLs failed to increase anabolic gene expression with loading and exhibited higher expression of catabolic genes at all loading levels, which may explain the increased rate of ACL tears in women. Together, these data provide insight into load-induced ACL remodeling and potential causes of tissue rupture.

Abstract PO010: Engineering T cells to enhance 3D migration through mechanically and structurally complex tumor microenvironments

While chemical signals play a strong role in drawing T cells into solid tumors, the physical features of the stroma, such as architecture and mechanics, also strongly influence T cell infiltration as well as their ability to effectively distribute throughout, and sample, the entire tumor volume. Indeed, the mechanically and chemically complex stromal reaction in solid tumors can limit access and effective distribution of T cells creating antitumor immunity-free sanctuaries. Furthermore, many solid tumors are rich with aligned extracellular matrix (ECM) networks, which provide contact guidance for carcinoma cells, but can also direct migration of infiltrated T cells within solid tumors. Yet, our understanding of how native and engineered T cells migrate through mechanically complex tumor microenvironments (TMEs) is quite incomplete. As such, defining the principles of T cell migration in structurally and mechanically complex tumor microenvironments is critical to understanding sanctuaries from antitumor immunity and for optimizing T cell-related therapeutic strategies. In order to decipher and enhance migration of T cells through complex microenvironments, we initially engineered nanotextured elastic platforms that mimic ECM architectures observed in breast and pancreatic carcinomas. These platforms allowed us to define how the balance between contractility localization-dependent T cell phenotypes (i.e. high cortical contractility distributed along the curved cell membrane versus forces imparted onto substrates) influences migration in response to tumor-mimetic mechanical and structural and cues. From this information we characterized a mechanical optimum for migration that can be perturbed by manipulating an axis between microtubule stability and contractile force generation. In three-dimensional (3D) environments and live pancreatic tumors, we demonstrate that microtubule instability, leading to increased Rho pathway-dependent cortical contractility, promotes migration while clinically used microtubule-stabilizing chemotherapies profoundly decrease effective migration. Indeed, we show that rational manipulation of the microtubule-contractility axis, either pharmacologically or through genome engineering with CRISPR results in engineered T cells that more effectively move through and interrogate 3D matrix and tumor volumes. This suggests that T cell engineering to generate “mechanically optimized” therapeutic cells that better navigate through 3D microenvironments could be part of an effective strategy to enhance efficacy of immune therapeutics.

Citation Format: Erdem Tabdanov, Nelson Rodriguez-Merced, Alexander Cartagena-Rivera, Vikram Puram, Mackenzie Callaway, Ethan Ensminger, Emily Pomeroy, Kenta Yamamoto, Walker Lahr, Beau Webber, Branden Moriarity, Alexander Zhovmer, Paolo Provenzano. Engineering T cells to enhance 3D migration through mechanically and structurally complex tumor microenvironments [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Special Conference on the Evolving Tumor Microenvironment in Cancer Progression: Mechanisms and Emerging Therapeutic Opportunities; in association with the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) Working Group; 2021 Jan 11-12. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(5 Suppl):Abstract nr PO010.

α-Actinin links extracellular matrix rigidity-sensing contractile units with periodic cell-edge retractions

During spreading and migration, the leading edges of cells undergo periodic protrusion-retraction cycles. The functional purpose of these cycles is unclear. Here, using submicrometer polydimethylsiloxane pillars as substrates for cell spreading, we show that periodic edge retractions coincide with peak forces produced by local contractile units (CUs) that assemble and disassemble along the cell edge to test matrix rigidity. We find that, whereas actin rearward flow produces a relatively constant force inward, the peak of local contractile forces by CUs scales with rigidity. The cytoskeletal protein α-actinin is shared between these two force-producing systems. It initially localizes to the CUs and subsequently moves inward with the actin flow. Knockdown of α-actinin causes aberrant rigidity sensing, loss of CUs, loss of protrusion-retraction cycles, and, surprisingly, enables the cells to proliferate on soft matrices. We present a model based on these results in which local CUs drive rigidity sensing and adhesion formation.

Micropatterning of TCR and LFA-1 ligands reveals complementary effects on cytoskeleton mechanics in T cells

The formation of the immunological synapse between a T cell and the antigen-presenting cell (APC) is critically dependent on actin dynamics, downstream of T cell receptor (TCR) and integrin (LFA-1) signalling. There is also accumulating evidence that mechanical forces, generated by actin polymerization and/or myosin contractility regulate T cell signalling. Because both receptor pathways are intertwined, their contributions towards the cytoskeletal organization remain elusive. Here, we identify the specific roles of TCR and LFA-1 by using a combination of micropatterning to spatially separate signalling systems and nanopillar arrays for high-precision analysis of cellular forces. We identify that Arp2/3 acts downstream of TCRs to nucleate dense actin foci but propagation of the network requires LFA-1 and the formin FHOD1. LFA-1 adhesion enhances actomyosin forces, which in turn modulate actin assembly downstream of the TCR. Together our data shows a mechanically cooperative system through which ligands presented by an APC modulate T cell activation.

Mechanosensing in T lymphocyte activation

Mechanical forces play an increasingly recognized role in modulating cell function. This report demonstrates mechanosensing by T cells, using polyacrylamide gels presenting ligands to CD3 and CD28. Naive CD4 T cells exhibited stronger activation, as measured by attachment and secretion of IL-2, with increasing substrate elastic modulus over the range of 10-200 kPa. By presenting these ligands on different surfaces, this report further demonstrates that mechanosensing is more strongly associated with CD3 rather than CD28 signaling. Finally, phospho-specific staining for Zap70 and Src family kinase proteins suggests that sensing of substrate rigidity occurs at least in part by processes downstream of T-cell receptor activation. The ability of T cells to quantitatively respond to substrate rigidly provides an intriguing new model for mechanobiology.

Cardiac myocyte remodeling mediated by N-cadherin-dependent mechanosensing

Cell-to-cell adhesions are crucial in maintaining the structural and functional integrity of cardiac cells. Little is known about the mechanosensitivity and mechanotransduction of cell-to-cell interactions. Most studies of cardiac mechanotransduction and myofibrillogenesis have focused on cell-extracellular matrix (ECM)-specific interactions. This study assesses the direct role of intercellular adhesion, specifically that of N-cadherin-mediated mechanotransduction, on the morphology and internal organization of neonatal ventricular cardiac myocytes. The results show that cadherin-mediated cell attachments are capable of eliciting a cytoskeletal network response similar to that of integrin-mediated force response and transmission, affecting myofibrillar organization, myocyte shape, and cortical stiffness. Traction forces mediated by N-cadherin were shown to be comparable to those sustained by ECM. The directional changes in predicted traction forces as a function of imposed loads (gel stiffness) provide the added evidence that N-cadherin is a mechanoresponsive adhesion receptor. Strikingly, the mechanical sensitivity response (gain) in terms of the measured cell-spread area as a function of imposed load (adhesive substrate rigidity) was consistently higher for N-cadherin-coated surfaces compared with ECM protein-coated surfaces. In addition, the cytoskeletal architecture of myocytes on an N-cadherin adhesive microenvironment was characteristically different from that on an ECM environment, suggesting that the two mechanotransductive cell adhesion systems may play both independent and complementary roles in myocyte cytoskeletal spatial organization. These results indicate that cell-to-cell-mediated force perception and transmission are involved in the organization and development of cardiac structure and function.

Role of E-cadherin in membrane-cortex interaction probed by nanotube extrusion

This study aims to define the role of E-cadherin (Ecad) engagement in cell-cell contact during membrane-cortex interaction. As a tool, we used a hydrodynamic membrane tube extrusion technique to characterize the mechanical interaction between the plasma membrane and the underlying cortical cytoskeleton. Cells were anchored on 4.5 microm beads coated with polylysine (PL) to obtain nonspecific cell adhesion or with an antibody against Ecad to mimic specific Ecad-mediated cell adhesion. We investigated tube length dynamics L(t) over time and through successive extrusions applied to the cell at regular time intervals. A constant slow velocity was observed for the first extrusion, for PL-attached cells. Subsequent extrusions had two phases: an initial high-velocity regime followed by a low-velocity regime. Successive extrusions gradually weakened the binding of the membrane around the tube neck to the underlying cortical cytoskeleton. Cells specifically attached via Ecad first exhibited a very low extrusion velocity regime followed by a faster extrusion regime similar to nonspecific extrusion. This indicates that Ecad strengthens the membrane-cortical cytoskeleton interaction, but only in a restricted area corresponding to the site of contact between the cell and the bead. Occasional giant "cortex" tubes were extruded with specifically anchored cells, demonstrating that the cortex remained tightly bound to the membrane through Ecad-mediated adhesion at the contact site.