Combining mechanical and optical approaches to dissect cellular mechanobiology

Mechanical force modulates a wide array of cell physiological processes. Cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli using a hierarchy of structural complexes spanning multiple length scales, including force-sensitive molecules and cytoskeletal networks. Understanding mechanotransduction, i.e., the process by which cells convert mechanical inputs into biochemical signals, has required the development of novel biophysical tools that allow for probing of cellular and subcellular components at requisite time, length, and force scales and technologies that track the spatio-temporal dynamics of relevant biomolecules. In this review, we begin by discussing the underlying principles and recent applications of atomic force microscopy, magnetic twisting cytometry, and traction force microscopy, three tools that have been widely used for measuring the mechanical properties of cells and for probing the molecular basis of cellular mechanotransduction. We then discuss how such tools can be combined with advanced fluorescence methods for imaging biochemical processes in living cells in the context of three specific problem spaces. We first focus on fluorescence resonance energy transfer, which has enabled imaging of intra- and inter-molecular interactions and enzymatic activity in real time based on conformational changes in sensor molecules. Next, we examine the use of fluorescence methods to probe force-dependent dynamics of focal adhesion proteins. Finally, we discuss the use of calcium ratiometric signaling to track fast mechanotransductive signaling dynamics. Together, these studies demonstrate how single-cell biomechanical tools can be effectively combined with molecular imaging technologies for elucidating mechanotransduction processes and identifying mechanosensitive proteins.     

The relationship between force and focal complex development

To adhere and migrate, cells must be capable of applying cytoskeletal force to the extracellular matrix (ECM) through integrin receptors. However, it is unclear if connections between integrins and the ECM are immediately capable of transducing cytoskeletal contraction into migration force, or whether engagement of force transmission requires maturation of the adhesion. Here, we show that initial integrin-ECM adhesions become capable of exerting migration force with the recruitment of vinculin, a marker for focal complexes, which are precursors of focal adhesions. We are able to induce the development of focal complexes by the application of mechanical force to fibronectin receptors from inside or outside the cell, and we are able to extend focal complex formation to vitronectin receptors by the removal of c-Src. These results indicate that cells use mechanical force as a signal to strengthen initial integrin-ECM adhesions into focal complexes and regulate the amount of migration force applied to individual adhesions at localized regions of the advancing lamella.     

Comparing the mechanical influence of vinculin, focal adhesion kinase and p53 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts

Cytoskeletal reorganization is an ongoing process when cells adhere, move or invade extracellular substrates. The cellular force generation and transmission are determined by the intactness of the actomyosin-(focal adhesion complex)-integrin connection. We investigated the intracellular course of action in mouse embryonic fibroblasts deficient in the focal adhesion proteins vinculin and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the nuclear matrix protein p53 using magnetic tweezer and nanoparticle tracking techniques. Results show that the lack of these proteins decrease cellular stiffness and affect cell rheological behavior. The decrease in cellular binding strength was higher in FAK- to vinculin-deficient cells, whilst p53-deficient cells showed no effect compared to wildtype cells. The intracellular cytoskeletal activity was lowest in wildtype cells, but increased in the following order when cells lacked FAK+p53 > p53 > vinculin. In summary, cell mechanical processes are differently affected by the focal adhesion proteins vinculin and FAK than by the nuclear matrix protein, p53.     

CAP interacts with cytoskeletal proteins and regulates adhesion-mediated ERK activation and motility

CAP/Ponsin belongs to the SoHo family of adaptor molecules that includes ArgBP2 and Vinexin. These proteins possess an N-terminal sorbin homology (SoHo) domain and three C-terminal SH3 domains that bind to diverse signaling molecules involved in a variety of cellular processes. Here, we show that CAP binds to the cytoskeletal proteins paxillin and vinculin. CAP localizes to cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion sites, and this process requires binding to vinculin. Overexpression of CAP induces the aggregation of paxillin, vinculin and actin at cell-ECM adhesion sites. Moreover, CAP inhibits adhesion-dependent processes such as cell spreading and focal adhesion turnover, whereas a CAP mutant that is unable to localize to cell-ECM adhesion sites is incapable of exerting these effects. Finally, depletion of CAP by siRNA-mediated knockdown leads to enhanced cell spreading, migration and the activation of the PAK/MEK/ERK pathway in REF52 cells. Taken together, these results indicate that CAP is a cytoskeletal adaptor protein involved in modulating adhesion-mediated signaling events that lead to cell migration.     

A computational model of cell migration coupling the growth of focal adhesions with oscillatory cell protrusions

Cell migration is a highly integrated process where actin turnover, actomyosin contractility, and adhesion dynamics are all closely linked. In this paper, we propose a computational model investigating the coupling of these fundamental processes within the context of spontaneous (i.e. unstimulated) cell migration. In the unstimulated cell, membrane oscillations originating from the interaction between passive hydrostatic pressure and contractility are sufficient to lead to the formation of adhesion spots. Cell contractility then leads to the maturation of these adhesion spots into focal adhesions. Due to active actin polymerization, which reinforces protrusion at the leading edge, the traction force required for cell translocation can be generated. Computational simulations first show that the model hypotheses allow one to reproduce the main features of fibroblast cell migration and established results on the biphasic aspect of the cell speed as a function of adhesion strength. The model also demonstrates that certain temporal parameters, such as the adhesion proteins recycling time and adhesion lifetimes, influence cell motion patterns, particularly cell speed and persistence of the direction of migration. This study provides some elements, which allow a better understanding of spontaneous cell migration and enables a first glance at how an individual cell would potentially react once exposed to a stimulus.     

The distribution of vinculin to lipid rafts plays an important role in sensing stiffness of extracellular matrix

Extracellular matrix (ECM) stiffness regulates cell differentiation, survival, and migration. Our previous study has shown that the interaction of the focal adhesion protein vinculin with vinexin α plays a critical role in sensing ECM stiffness and regulating stiffness-dependent cell migration. However, the mechanism how vinculin–vinexin α interaction affects stiffness-dependent cell migration is unclear. Lipid rafts are membrane microdomains that are known to affect ECM-induced signals and cell behaviors. Here, we show that vinculin and vinexin α can localize to lipid rafts. Cell-ECM adhesion, intracellular tension, and a rigid ECM promote vinculin distribution to lipid rafts. The disruption of lipid rafts with Methyl-β-cyclodextrin impaired the ECM stiffness-mediated regulation of vinculin behavior and rapid cell migration on rigid ECM. These results indicate that lipid rafts play an important role in ECM-stiffness regulation of cell migration via vinculin.     

Vinculin is proteolyzed by calpain during platelet aggregation: 95 kDa cleavage fragment associates with the platelet cytoskeleton

The focal adhesion protein vinculin contributes to cell attachment and spreading through strengthening of mechanical interactions between cell cytoskeletal proteins and surface membrane glycoproteins. To investigate whether vinculin proteolysis plays a role in the influence vinculin exerts on the cytoskeleton, we studied the fate of vinculin in activated and aggregating platelets by Western blot analysis of the platelet lysate and the cytoskeletal fractions of differentially activated platelets. Vinculin was proteolyzed into at least three fragments (the major one being approximately 95 kDa) within 5 min of platelet activation with thrombin or calcium ionophore. The 95 kDa vinculin fragment shifted cellular compartments from the membrane skeletal fraction to the cortical cytoskeletal fraction of lysed platelets in a platelet aggregation-dependent manner. Vinculin cleavage was inhibited by calpeptin and E64d, indicating that the enzyme responsible for vinculin proteolysis is calpain. These calpain inhibitors also inhibited the translocation of full-length vinculin to the cytoskeleton. We conclude that cleavage of vinculin and association of vinculin cleavage fragment(s) with the platelet cytoskeleton is an activation response that may be important in the cytoskeletal remodeling of aggregating platelets.     

Force and focal adhesion assembly: a close relationship studied using elastic micropatterned substrates

Mechanical forces play a major role in the regulation of cell adhesion and cytoskeletal organization. In order to explore the molecular mechanism underlying this regulation, we have investigated the relationship between local force applied by the cell to the substrate and the assembly of focal adhesions. A novel approach was developed for real-time, high-resolution measurements of forces applied by cells at single adhesion sites. This method combines micropatterning of elastomer substrates and fluorescence imaging of focal adhesions in live cells expressing GFP-tagged vinculin. Local forces are correlated with the orientation, total fluorescence intensity and area of the focal adhesions, indicating a constant stress of 5.5 +/- 2 nNmicrom(-2). The dynamics of the force-dependent modulation of focal adhesions were characterized by blocking actomyosin contractility and were found to be on a time scale of seconds. The results put clear constraints on the possible molecular mechanisms for the mechanosensory response of focal adhesions to applied force.     

Integrin-linked kinase regulates N-WASp-mediated actin polymerization and tension development in tracheal smooth muscle

The contractile stimulation of smooth muscle tissues stimulates the recruitment of proteins to membrane adhesion complexes and the initiation of actin polymerization. We hypothesized that integrin-linked kinase (ILK), a beta-integrin-binding scaffolding protein and serine/threonine kinase, and its binding proteins, PINCH, and alpha-parvin may be recruited to membrane adhesion sites during contractile stimulation of tracheal smooth muscle to mediate cytoskeletal processes required for tension development. Immunoprecipitation analysis indicted that ILK, PINCH, and alpha-parvin form a stable cytosolic complex and that the ILK.PINCH.alpha-parvin complex is recruited to integrin adhesion complexes in response to acetylcholine (ACh) stimulation where it associates with paxillin and vinculin. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-ILK and GFP-PINCH were expressed in tracheal muscle tissues and both endogenous and recombinant ILK and PINCH were recruited to the membrane in response to ACh stimulation. The N-terminal LIM1 domain of PINCH binds to ILK and is required for the targeting of the ILK-PINCH complex to focal adhesion sites in fibroblasts during cell adhesion. We expressed the GFP-PINCH LIM1-2 fragment, consisting only of LIM1-2 domains, in tracheal smooth muscle tissues to competitively inhibit the interaction of ILK with PINCH. The PINCH LIM1-2 fragment inhibited the recruitment of endogenous ILK and PINCH to integrin adhesion sites and prevented their association of ILK with beta-integrins, paxillin, and vinculin. The PINCH LIM1-2 fragment also inhibited tension development, actin polymerization, and activation of the actin nucleation initiator, N-WASp. We conclude that the recruitment of the ILK.PINCH.alpha-parvin complex to membrane adhesion complexes is required to initiate cytoskeletal processes required for tension development in smooth muscle.     

The Role of Vinculin in the Regulation of the Mechanical Properties of Cells

Vinculin couples as a focal adhesion protein the extracellular matrix (ECM) through integrins to the actomyosin cytoskeleton. During the last years vinculin has become the focus of cell mechanical measurements and a key protein regulating the transmission of contractile forces. In earlier reports vinculin has been described as an inhibitor of cell migration on planar substrates, because knock-out of vinculin in F9 mouse embryonic carcinoma cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts showed increased cell motility on 2D substrates. The role of vinculin in cell invasion through a 3D extracellular matrix is still fragmentarily investigated. This review presents vinculin in its role as a regulator of cellular mechanical functions. Contractile force generation is reduced when vinculin is absent, or enhanced when vinculin is present. Moreover, the generation of contractile forces is a prerequisite for cell invasion through a dense 3D ECM, where the pore-size is smaller than the diameter of the cell nucleus (<2 μm). Measurements of cell’s biophysical properties will be presented. In summary, vinculin’s leading role among focal adhesion proteins in regulating the mechanical properties of cells will be discussed.     

Contractility modulates cell adhesion strengthening through focal adhesion kinase and assembly of vinculin‐containing focal adhesions

Actin–myosin contractility modulates focal adhesion assembly, stress fiber formation, and cell migration. We analyzed the contributions of contractility to fibroblast adhesion strengthening using a hydrodynamic adhesion assay and micropatterned substrates to control cell shape and adhesive area. Serum addition resulted in adhesion strengthening to levels 30–40% higher than serum‐free cultures. Inhibition of myosin light chain kinase or Rho‐kinase blocked phosphorylation of myosin light chain to similar extents and eliminated the serum‐induced enhancements in strengthening. Blebbistatin‐induced inhibition of myosin II reduced serum‐induced adhesion strength to similar levels as those obtained by blocking myosin light chain phosphorylation. Reductions in adhesion strengthening by inhibitors of contractility correlated with loss of vinculin and talin from focal adhesions without changes in integrin binding. In vinculin‐null cells, inhibition of contractility did not alter adhesive force, whereas controls displayed a 20% reduction in adhesion strength, indicating that the effects of contractility on adhesive force are vinculin‐dependent. Furthermore, in cells expressing FAK, inhibitors of contractility reduced serum‐induced adhesion strengthening as well as eliminated focal adhesion assembly. In contrast, in the absence of FAK, these inhibitors did not alter adhesion strength or focal adhesion assembly. These results indicate that contractility modulates adhesion strengthening via FAK‐dependent, vinculin‐containing focal adhesion assembly. J. Cell. Physiol. 223:746–756, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Force-induced adsorption and anisotropic growth of focal adhesions

Focal adhesions are micrometer-sized protein aggregates that connect actin stress fibers to the extracellular matrix, a network of macromolecules surrounding tissue cells. The actin fibers are under tension due to actin-myosin contractility. Recent measurements have shown that as the actin force is increased, these adhesions grow in size and in the direction of the force. This is in contrast to the growth of condensed domains of surface-adsorbed molecules in which the dynamics are isotropic. We predict these force-sensitive, anisotropic dynamics of focal adhesions from a model for the adsorption of proteins from the cytoplasm to the adhesion site. Our theory couples the mechanical forces and elasticity to the adsorption dynamics via force-induced conformational changes of molecular-sized mechanosensors located in the focal adhesion. We predict the velocity of both the front and back of the adhesion as a function of the applied force. In addition, our results show that the relative motion of the front and back of the adhesion is asymmetric and in different ranges of forces, the adhesion can either shrink or grow in the direction of the force.     

Cell adhesion strengthening: contributions of adhesive area, integrin binding, and focal adhesion assembly

Mechanical interactions between a cell and its environment regulate migration, contractility, gene expression, and cell fate. We integrated micropatterned substrates to engineer adhesive area and a hydrodynamic assay to analyze fibroblast adhesion strengthening on fibronectin. Independently of cell spreading, integrin binding and focal adhesion assembly resulted in rapid sevenfold increases in adhesion strength to steady-state levels. Adhesive area strongly modulated adhesion strength, integrin binding, and vinculin and talin recruitment, exhibiting linear increases for small areas. However, above a threshold area, adhesion strength and focal adhesion assembly reached a saturation limit, whereas integrin binding transitioned from a uniform distribution to discrete complexes. Adhesion strength exhibited exponential increases with bound integrin numbers as well as vinculin and talin recruitment, and the relationship between adhesion strength and these biochemical events was accurately described by a simple mechanical model. Furthermore, adhesion strength was regulated by the position of an adhesive patch, comprised of bound integrins and cytoskeletal elements, which generated a constant 200-nN adhesive force. Unexpectedly, focal adhesion assembly, in particular vinculin recruitment, contributed only 30% of the adhesion strength. This work elucidates the roles of adhesive complex size and position in the generation of cell-extracellular matrix forces.     

Matrix-driven changes in metabolism support cytoskeletal activity to promote cell migration

The microenvironment provides both active and passive mechanical cues that regulate cell morphology, adhesion, migration, and metabolism. Although the cellular response to those mechanical cues often requires energy-intensive actin cytoskeletal remodeling and actomyosin contractility, it remains unclear how cells dynamically adapt their metabolic activity to altered mechanical cues to support migration. Here, we investigated the changes in cellular metabolic activity in response to different two-dimensional and three-dimensional microenvironmental conditions and how these changes relate to cytoskeletal activity and migration. Utilizing collagen micropatterning on polyacrylamide gels, intracellular energy levels and oxidative phosphorylation were found to be correlated with cell elongation and spreading and necessary for membrane ruffling. To determine whether this relationship holds in more physiological three-dimensional matrices, collagen matrices were used to show that intracellular energy state was also correlated with protrusive activity and increased with matrix density. Pharmacological inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation revealed that cancer cells rely on oxidative phosphorylation to meet the elevated energy requirements for protrusive activity and migration in denser matrices. Together, these findings suggest that mechanical regulation of cytoskeletal activity during spreading and migration by the physical microenvironment is driven by an altered metabolic profile.     

The cytoskeletal protein vinculin is acylated by myristic acid

In non-muscle cells the mechanism by which microfilament bundles interact with the plasma membrane is unclear. Vinculin, a 130 kDa protein found in adhesion plaques, has been postulated to have a role as a membrane anchor for microfilaments and we have investigated the biochemistry of this molecule in more detail. We report that a fraction of vinculin in chick embryo fibroblasts is acylated by myristic acid. This modification was present in both membrane-bound, cytoskeletal and cytosolic vinculin and thus did not determine preferential subcellular localisation. Myristic acid was also present in vinculin from cells transformed by Rous sarcoma virus.     

Mechanisms and Functions of Vinculin Interactions with Phospholipids at Cell Adhesion Sites

The cytoskeletal protein vinculin is a major regulator of cell adhesion and attaches to the cell surface by binding to specific phospholipids. Structural, biochemical, and biological studies provided much insight into how vinculin binds to membranes, what components it recognizes, and how lipid binding is regulated. Here we discuss the roles and mechanisms of phospholipids in regulating the structure and function of vinculin and of its muscle-specific metavinculin splice variant. A full appreciation of these processes is necessary for understanding how vinculin regulates cell motility, migration, and wound healing, and for understanding of its role in cancer and cardiovascular diseases.     

Actomyosin contractility spatiotemporally regulates actin network dynamics in migrating cells

Coupling interactions among mechanical and biochemical factors are important for the realization of various cellular processes that determine cell migration. Although F-actin network dynamics has been the focus of many studies, it is not yet clear how mechanical forces generated by actomyosin contractility spatiotemporally regulate this fundamental aspect of cell migration. In this study, using a combination of fluorescent speckle microscopy and particle imaging velocimetry techniques, we perturbed the actomyosin system and examined quantitatively the consequence of actomyosin contractility on F-actin network flow and deformation in the lamellipodia of actively migrating fish keratocytes. F-actin flow fields were characterized by retrograde flow at the front and anterograde flow at the back of the lamellipodia, and the two flows merged to form a convergence zone of reduced flow intensity. Interestingly, activating or inhibiting actomyosin contractility altered network flow intensity and convergence, suggesting that network dynamics is directly regulated by actomyosin contractility. Moreover, quantitative analysis of F-actin network deformation revealed that the deformation was significantly negative and predominant in the direction of cell migration. Furthermore, perturbation experiments revealed that the deformation was a function of actomyosin contractility. Based on these results, we suggest that the actin cytoskeletal structure is a mechanically self-regulating system, and we propose an elaborate pathway for the spatiotemporal self-regulation of the actin cytoskeletal structure during cell migration. In the proposed pathway, mechanical forces generated by actomyosin interactions are considered central to the realization of the various mechanochemical processes that determine cell motility.     

Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor-H1 Regulates Cell Migration via Localized Activation of RhoA at the Leading Edge

Cell migration involves the cooperative reorganization of the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons, as well as the turnover of cell–substrate adhesions, under the control of Rho family GTPases. RhoA is activated at the leading edge of motile cells by unknown mechanisms to control actin stress fiber assembly, contractility, and focal adhesion dynamics. The microtubule-associated guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF)-H1 activates RhoA when released from microtubules to initiate a RhoA/Rho kinase/myosin light chain signaling pathway that regulates cellular contractility. However, the contributions of activated GEF-H1 to coordination of cytoskeletal dynamics during cell migration are unknown. We show that small interfering RNA-induced GEF-H1 depletion leads to decreased HeLa cell directional migration due to the loss of the Rho exchange activity of GEF-H1. Analysis of RhoA activity by using a live cell biosensor revealed that GEF-H1 controls localized activation of RhoA at the leading edge. The loss of GEF-H1 is associated with altered leading edge actin dynamics, as well as increased focal adhesion lifetimes. Tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase and paxillin at residues critical for the regulation of focal adhesion dynamics was diminished in the absence of GEF-H1/RhoA signaling. This study establishes GEF-H1 as a critical organizer of key structural and signaling components of cell migration through the localized regulation of RhoA activity at the cell leading edge.     

Different Vinculin Binding Sites Use the Same Mechanism to Regulate Directional Force Transduction

Vinculin is a universal adaptor protein that transiently reinforces the mechanical stability of adhesion complexes. It stabilizes mechanical connections that cells establish between the actomyosin cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix via integrins or to neighboring cells via cadherins, yet little is known regarding its mechanical design. Vinculin binding sites (VBSs) from different nonhomologous actin-binding proteins use conserved helical motifs to associate with the vinculin head domain. We studied the mechanical stability of such complexes by pulling VBS peptides derived from talin, α-actinin, and Shigella IpaA out of the vinculin head domain. Experimental data from atomic force microscopy single-molecule force spectroscopy and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations both revealed greater mechanical stability of the complex for shear-like than for zipper-like pulling configurations. This suggests that reinforcement occurs along preferential force directions, thus stabilizing those cytoskeletal filament architectures that result in shear-like pulling geometries. Large force-induced conformational changes in the vinculin head domain, as well as protein-specific fine-tuning of the VBS sequence, including sequence inversion, allow for an even more nuanced force response.