Adaptive rheology and ordering of cell cytoskeleton govern matrix rigidity sensing

Matrix rigidity sensing regulates a large variety of cellular processes and has important implications for tissue development and disease. However, how cells probe matrix rigidity, and hence respond to it, remains unclear. Here, we show that rigidity sensing and adaptation emerge naturally from acti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2015-06, Vol.6 (1), p.7525-7525, Article 7525
Main Authors: Gupta, Mukund, Sarangi, Bibhu Ranjan, Deschamps, Joran, Nematbakhsh, Yasaman, Callan-Jones, Andrew, Margadant, Felix, Mège, René-Marc, Lim, Chwee Teck, Voituriez, Raphaël, Ladoux, Benoît
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
14
14/3
14/63
631/57
631/80/128/1276
631/80/79/750
Actins - physiology
Animals
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biophysics
Cellular Biology
Cytoskeleton - physiology
Feeder Cells
Fibroblasts - cytology
Fibroblasts - physiology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Life Sciences
Luminescent Proteins - genetics
Luminescent Proteins - metabolism
Microscopy, Atomic Force
Models, Biological
multidisciplinary
Rats
Rheology - methods
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:Matrix rigidity sensing regulates a large variety of cellular processes and has important implications for tissue development and disease. However, how cells probe matrix rigidity, and hence respond to it, remains unclear. Here, we show that rigidity sensing and adaptation emerge naturally from actin cytoskeleton remodelling. Our in vitro experiments and theoretical modelling demonstrate a biphasic rheology of the actin cytoskeleton, which transitions from fluid on soft substrates to solid on stiffer ones. Furthermore, we find that increasing substrate stiffness correlates with the emergence of an orientational order in actin stress fibres, which exhibit an isotropic to nematic transition that we characterize quantitatively in the framework of active matter theory. These findings imply mechanisms mediated by a large-scale reinforcement of actin structures under stress, which could be the mechanical drivers of substrate stiffness-dependent cell shape changes and cell polarity. Adherent cells actively probe the rigidity of their substrates. Gupta et al . show that actin cytoskeleton rheology transitions from fluid to solid with increased substrate stiffness along with an isotropic to nematic ordering, implicating the remodelling of the whole actin network in rigidity sensing.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms8525