Chapter 6 - Altered Mechanical Properties of the Nucleus in Disease

Abstract

In eukaryotic cells, the nucleus is the largest and most rigid organelle. Therefore, its physical properties contribute critically to the biomechanical behavior of cells, e.g., during amoeboid migration or perfusion through narrow capillaries. Furthermore, it has been speculated that nuclear deformations could directly allow cells to sense mechanical stress, e.g., by modulating the access of specific transcription factors to their binding sites. Defects in nuclear mechanics have also been reported in a variety of muscular dystrophies caused by mutations in nuclear envelope proteins, indicating an important role in the maintenance of cells in mechanically stressed tissue. These findings have prompted the growing field of nuclear mechanics to develop advanced experimental methods to study the physical properties of the nucleus as a function of nuclear structure and organization, and to understand its role in physiology and disease. These experimental techniques include micropipette aspiration, atomic force microscopy of isolated nuclei, cellular strain and compression experiments, and microneedle manipulation of intact cells. These experiments have provided important insights into the mechanical behavior of the nucleus under physiological conditions, the distinct mechanical contributions of the nuclear lamina and interior, and how mutations in nuclear envelope proteins associated with a variety of human diseases can cause distinct alterations in the physical properties of the nucleus and contribute to the disease mechanism. Here, we provide a brief overview of the most common experimental techniques and their application and discuss the implication of their results on our current understanding of nuclear mechanics.