Abstract
Cellular response to the externally applied force has a vital effect on cell proliferation, propagation and finally on its ultimate fate. Details of the molecular basis of the mechanical response are , however, little known. Here we measured mechanical and structural responses of a cell under locally applied force on an atomic force microscope (AFM) equipped with a fluorescence microscope for live cell imaging. When a colloidal AFM probe was first pressed on the cell surface and then pulled up, the tensile force sensed by the cantilever was recovered after initial relaxation. This recovery of the tensional activity was inhibited when cells were treated with cytochalasin D, the inhibitor of actin polymerization, or blebbistatin, the inhibitor of ATPase activity in myosin II, suggesting that the tension-recovering activity was driven by actin-myosin contractility. Our method allows us to investigate the dynamic processes of the mechanical maintenance of subcellular structures in a single cell.
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