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Cell mechanical properties on a whole cell basis have been widely studied, whereas local intracellular variations have been less well characterized and are poorly understood. To fill this gap, here we provide detailed intracellular maps of regional cytoskeleton (CSK) stiffness, loss tangent, and rate of structural rearrangements, as well as their relationships to the underlying regional F-actin density and the local cytoskeletal prestress. In the human airway smooth muscle cell, we used micropatterning to minimize geometric variation. We measured the local cell stiffness and loss tangent with optical magnetic twisting cytometry and the local rate of CSK remodeling with spontaneous displacements of a CSK-bound bead. We also measured traction distributions with traction microscopy and cell geometry with atomic force microscopy. On the basis of these experimental observations, we used finite element methods to map for the first time the regional distribution of intracellular prestress. Compared with the cell center or edges, cell corners were systematically stiffer and more fluidlike and supported higher traction forces, and at the same time had slower remodeling dynamics. Local remodeling dynamics had a close inverse relationship with local cell stiffness. The principal finding, however, is that systematic regional variations of CSK stiffness correlated only poorly with regional F-actin density but strongly and linearly with the regional prestress. Taken together, these findings in the intact cell comprise the most comprehensive characterization to date of regional variations of cytoskeletal mechanical properties and their determinants.

Parasitic infection with Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the most severe form of human malaria in which patients suffer from periodic fever. It is well established that during intra-erythrocytic maturation of the parasite in the red blood cell (RBC), the RBC becomes significantly more cytoadhesive and less deformable; these and other biochemical factors together with human host factors such as compromised immune status are important contributors to the disease pathology. There is currently substantial interest in understanding the loss of RBC deformability due to P. falciparum infection, but few results are available concerning effects of febrile conditions or parasitization on RBC membrane rheology. Here, for the first time, we report rheology of the single, isolated RBC with and without P. falciparum merozoite invasion, spanning a range from room temperature to febrile conditions (41°C), over all the stages of parasite maturation. As expected, stiffness increased with parasite maturation. Surprisingly, however, stiffness increased acutely with temperature on a scale of minutes, particularly in late trophozoite and schizont stages. This acute stiffening in late falciparum stages may contribute to fever-dependent pathological consequences in the microcirculation.

Although changes of cytoskeleton (CSK) stiffness and friction can be induced by diverse interventions, all mechanical changes reported to date can be scaled onto master relationships that appear to be universal. To assess the limits of the applicability of those master relationships, we focused in the present study on actin and used a panel of actin-manipulating drugs that is much wider than any used previously. We focused on the cultured rat airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell as a model system. Cells were treated with agents that directly modulate the polymerization (jasplakinolide, cytochalasin D, and latrunculin A), branching (genistein), and cross linking (phallacidin and phalloidin oleate) of the actin lattice. Contractile (serotonin, 5-HT) and relaxing (dibutyryl adenosine 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate, DBcAMP) agonists and a myosin inhibitor (ML-7) were also tested for comparison, because these agents may change the structure of actin indirectly. Using optical magnetic twisting cytometry, we measured elastic and frictional moduli before and after treatment with each agent. Stiffness increased with frequency as a weak power law, and changes of friction paralleled those of stiffness until they approached a Newtonian viscous limit. Despite large differences in the mechanism of action among the interventions, all data collapsed onto master curves that depended on a single parameter. In the context of soft glassy systems, that parameter would correspond to an effective temperature of the cytoskeletal matrix and reflect the effects of molecular crowding and associated molecular trapping. These master relationships demonstrate that when the mechanical properties of the cell change, they are constrained to do so along a special trajectory. Because mechanical characteristics of the cell shadow underlying molecular events, these results imply special constraints on the protein-protein interactions that dominate CSK mechanical properties.

Hypoxia alters the barrier function of the endothelial cells that line the pulmonary vasculature, but underlying biophysical mechanisms remain unclear. Using rat pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (RPMEC) in culture, we report herein changes in biophysical properties, both in space and in time, that occur in response to hypoxia. We address also the molecular basis of these changes. At the level of the single cell, we measured cell stiffness, the distribution of traction forces exerted by the cell on its substrate, and spontaneous nanoscale motions of microbeads tightly bound to the cytoskeleton (CSK). Hypoxia increased cell stiffness and traction forces by a mechanism that was dependent on the activation of Rho kinase. These changes were followed by p38-mediated decreases in spontaneous bead motions, indicating stabilization of local cellular-extracellular matrix (ECM) tethering interactions. Cells overexpressing phospho-mimicking small heat shock protein (HSP27-PM), a downstream effector of p38, exhibited decreases in spontaneous bead motions that correlated with increases in actin polymerization in these cells. Together, these findings suggest that hypoxia differentially regulates endothelial cell contraction and cellular-ECM adhesion.

We describe a three-dimensional magnetic twisting device that is useful in characterizing the mechanical properties of cells. With the use of three pairs of orthogonally aligned coils, oscillatory mechanical torque was applied to magnetic beads about any chosen axis. Frequencies up to 1 kHz could be attained. Cell deformation was measured in response to torque applied via an RGD-coated, surface-bound magnetic bead. In both unpatterned and micropatterned elongated cells on extracellular matrix, the mechanical stiffness transverse to the long axis of the cell was less than half that parallel to the long axis. Elongated cells on poly-l-lysine lost stress fibers and exhibited little mechanical anisotropy; disrupting the actin cytoskeleton or decreasing cytoskeletal tension substantially decreased the anisotropy. These results suggest that mechanical anisotropy originates from intrinsic cytoskeletal tension within the stress fibers. Deformation patterns of the cytoskeleton and the nucleolus were sensitive to loading direction, suggesting anisotropic mechanical signaling. This technology may be useful for elucidating the structural basis of mechanotransduction.

We probed elastic and loss moduli in the adherent human airway smooth muscle cell through a variety of receptor systems, each serving as a different molecular window on cytoskeletal dynamics. Coated magnetic microbeads were attached to the cell surface via coating-receptor binding. A panel of bead coatings was investigated: a peptide containing the sequence RGD, vitronectin, urokinase, activating antibody against β1-integrin, nonactivating antibody against β1-integrin, blocking antibody against β1-integrin, antibody against β1-integrin, and acetylated low-density lipoprotein. An oscillatory mechanical torque was applied to the bead, and resulting lateral displacements were measured at baseline, after actin disruption by cytochalasin D, or after contractile activation by histamine. As expected, mechanical moduli depended strongly on bead type and bead coating, differing at the extremes by as much as two orders of magnitude. In every case, however, elastic and loss moduli increased with frequency f as a weak power law, f x−1. Moreover, with few exceptions, data could be scaled such that elastic and frictional responses depended solely on the power law exponent x. Taken together, these data suggest that power law behavior represents a generic feature of underlying protein-protein dynamics.

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells in culture stiffen when exposed to contractile agonists. Such cell stiffening may reflect activation of the contractile apparatus as well as polymerization of cytoskeletal biopolymers. Here we have assessed the relative contribution of these mechanisms in cultured ASM cells stimulated with serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) in the presence or absence of drugs that inhibit either myosin-based contraction or polymerization of filamentous (F) actin. Magnetic twisting cytometry was used to measure cell stiffness, and associated changes in structural organization of actin cytoskeleton were evaluated by confocal microscopy. We found that 5-HT increased cell stiffness in a dose-dependent fashion and also elicited rapid formation of F-actin as marked by increased intensity of FITC-phalloidin staining in these cells. A calmodulin antagonist (W-7), a myosin light chain kinase inhibitor (ML-7) and a myosin ATPase inhibitor (BDM) each ablated the stiffening response but not the F-actin polymerization induced by 5-HT. Agents that inhibited the formation of F-actin (cytochalasin D, latrunculin A, C3 exoenzyme, and Y-27632) attenuated both baseline stiffness and the extent of cell stiffening in response to 5-HT. Together, these data suggest that agonist-evoked stiffening of cultured ASM cells requires actin polymerization as well as myosin activation and that neither actin polymerization nor myosin activation by itself is sufficient to account for the cell stiffening response.