Real-time TIRF observation of vinculin recruitment to stretched α-catenin by AFM.

ABSTRACT: Adherens junctions (AJs) adaptively change their intensities in response to intercellular tension; therefore, they integrate tension generated by individual cells to drive multicellular dynamics, such as morphogenetic change in embryos. Under intercellular tension, α-catenin, which is a component protein of AJs, acts as a mechano-chemical transducer to recruit vinculin to promote actin remodeling. Although in vivo and in vitro studies have suggested that α-catenin-mediated mechanotransduction is a dynamic molecular process, which involves a conformational change of α-catenin under tension to expose a cryptic vinculin binding site, there are no suitable experimental methods to directly explore the process. Therefore, in this study, we developed a novel system by combining atomic force micro

SUBMITTER: Maki K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5785519 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature