Measuring Integrin Force Loading Rates Using a Two-Step DNA Tension Sensor.

ABSTRACT: Cells apply forces to extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands through transmembrane integrin receptors: an interaction which is intimately involved in cell motility, wound healing, cancer invasion and metastasis. These small (piconewton) integrin-ECM forces have been studied by molecular tension fluorescence microscopy (MTFM), which utilizes a force-induced conformational change of a probe to detect mechanical events. MTFM has revealed the force magnitude for integrin receptors in a variety of cell models including primary cells. However, force dynamics and specifically the force loading rate (LR) have important implications in receptor signaling and adhesion formation and remain poorly characterized. Here, we develop an LR probe composed of an engineered DNA structure that undergoes two mechan

SUBMITTER: Combs JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11345772 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature