Direct measurement of intranuclear strain distributions and RNA synthesis in single cells embedded within native tissue.

ABSTRACT: Nuclear structure and mechanics play a critical role in diverse cellular functions, such as organizing direct access of chromatin to transcriptional regulators. Here, we use a new, to our knowledge, hybrid method, based on microscopy and hyperelastic warping, to determine three-dimensional strain distributions inside the nuclei of single living cells embedded within their native extracellular matrix. During physiologically relevant mechanical loading to tissue samples, strain was transferred to individual nuclei, resulting in submicron distributions of displacements, with compressive and tensile strain patterns approaching a fivefold magnitude increase in some locations compared to tissue-scale stimuli. Moreover, nascent RNA synthesis was observed in the interchromatin regions of the cells

SUBMITTER: Henderson JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3838732 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature