Apical surface supracellular mechanical properties in polarized epithelium using noninvasive acoustic force spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT: Maintenance of epithelial tissue integrity requires coordination between cell-cell adherens junctions, tight junctions (TJ), and the perijunctional actomyosin cytoskeleton. Here we addressed the hypothesis that alterations in TJ structure and remodeling of the actomyosin cytoskeleton modify epithelial mechanics. Current methods to measure supracellular mechanical properties disrupt intact monolayers, therefore, we developed a novel method using noncontact acoustic frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) and tested it on MDCK polarized monolayers. Our results show that double knockdown (dKD) of ZO-1/ZO-2 elevates the apical epithelial tension and effective viscosity. Interestingly, epithelial tension is more sensitive to inhibition of myosin II ATPase activity than to inhibiti

SUBMITTER: Cartagena-Rivera AX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5715111 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature