Brushes,cables, and anchors: Recent insights into multiscale assembly and mechanics of cellular structural networks |
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Authors: | Tanmay P Lele Sanjay Kumar |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA;(2) Department of Bioengineering, University of California, 487 Evans Hall #1762, Berkeley, CA 94720-1762, USA |
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Abstract: | The remarkable ability of living cells to sense, process, and respond to mechanical stimuli in their environment depends on
the rapid and efficient interconversion of mechanical and chemical energy at specific times and places within the cell. For
example, application of force to cells leads to conformational changes in specific mechanosensitive molecules which then trigger
cellular signaling cascades that may alter cellular structure, mechanics, and migration and profoundly influence gene expression.
Similarly, the sensitivity of cells to mechanical stresses is governed by the composition, architecture, and mechanics of
the cellular cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix (ECM), which are in turn driven by molecular-scale forces between the constituent
biopolymers. Understanding how these mechanochemical systems coordinate over multiple length and time scales to produce orchestrated
cell behaviors represents a fundamental challenge in cell biology. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of
these complex processes in three experimental systems: the assembly of axonal neurofilaments, generation of tensile forces
by actomyosin stress fiber bundles, and mechanical control of adhesion assembly. |
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Keywords: | Cytoskeleton Neurofilaments Phosphorylation Stress fibers Actin Focal adhesions Zyxin Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching Rho GTPase Laser |
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