Analysis of Subcellular Traction Force in Cells under Uniaxial Stretch for Mechanobiology

Abstract

Mechanotransduction, which is induced by mechanical stimulation, initializes with protein alterations. Those protein alterations are induced by physical unbalances which appear nearby the protein alterations. In cells under uniaxial stretch, those physical unbalances remain out of quantification how they distribute in subcellular level. In order to quantify the subcellular distributions of the physical unbalances in cells under uniaxial stretch, we measured traction forces in cells under static condition and in cells under uniaxial stretch. By subtracting traction forces in cells under uniaxial stretch from those in cells under static condition, we obtained distributions of subcellular traction force under uniaxial stretch. In addition to obtaining distributions of subcellular traction force under uniaxial stretch, we imaged distributions of stress fibers in those cells with GFP-actin. As a result, stress fibers functioned both positively and negatively on traction force under uniaxial stretch.