Abstract
Mechanotransduction, the ability of cells to sense and respond to the mechanical cues from their microenvironment, plays an important role in numerous cellular processes, ranging from cell migration to differentiation. Several techniques have been developed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of mechanotransduction, in particular, force measurement-based techniques. However, we still lack basic single cell quantitative comparison on the mechanical properties of commonly used cell types, such as endothelial and fibroblast cells. Such information is critical to provide a precedent for studying complex tissues and organs that consist of various cell types. In this short communication, we report on the mechanical characterization of the commonly used endothelial and fibroblast cells at the single cell level. Using a micropillar-based assay, we measured the traction force profiles of these cells. Our study showcases differences between the two cell types in their traction force distribution and morphology. The results reported can be used as a reference and to lay the groundwork for future analysis of numerous disease models involving these cells.
Highlights
Mechanics is a fundamental property of biological cells with implications for various biological functions, ranging from single cell migration to organ-level functions, such as tissue barrier integrity regulation
We have shown that the total traction force of single 3T3 fibroblast cells exerted on fibronectin-coated micropillars is proportional to the number of deflected pillars [12]
The averaged cell spreading area was significantly higher for human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cells with 3542 ± 1486 μm2 compared to 3T3 fibroblasts with 1328 ± 673 μm2 (Figure 1E)
Summary
Mechanics is a fundamental property of biological cells with implications for various biological functions, ranging from single cell migration to organ-level functions, such as tissue barrier integrity regulation. Mechanical regulation of fibroblasts is involved in various cellular functions. Among these are, extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling [2], tissue regeneration [3] and angiogenesis [4]. Endothelial cells appeared to exert lower traction forces on the ECM substrate when compared to fibroblast cells. Differences in cellular morphology were observed, where a lower cell-eccentricity was detected in endothelial cells in comparison to fibroblast cells. Both cell types exert dipolar forces, an additional three-fold symmetry was identified for fibroblast cells in certain cell-eccentricity ranges
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