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Shining a light on RhoA: Optical control of cell contractility.
- Source :
-
The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology [Int J Biochem Cell Biol] 2023 Aug; Vol. 161, pp. 106442. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jun 20. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- In addition to biochemical and electrochemical signaling, cells also rely extensively on mechanical signaling to regulate their behavior. While a number of tools have been adapted from physics and engineering to manipulate cell mechanics, they typically require specialized equipment or lack spatiotemporal precision. Alternatively, a recent, more elegant approach is to use light itself to modulate the mechanical equilibrium inside the cell. This approach leverages the power of optogenetics, which can be controlled in a fully reversible manner in both time and space, to tune RhoA signaling, the master regulator of cellular contractility. We review here the fundamentals of this approach, including illustrating the tunability and flexibility that optogenetics offers, and demonstrate how this tool can be used to modulate both internal cytoskeletal flows and contractile force generation. Together these features highlight the advantages that optogenetics offers for investigating mechanical interactions in cells.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None.<br /> (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Muscle Contraction
Signal Transduction physiology
Mechanotransduction, Cellular
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1878-5875
- Volume :
- 161
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 37348811
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocel.2023.106442