Cortical stiffness of keratinocytes measured by lateral indentation with optical tweezers.

ABSTRACT: Keratin intermediate filaments are the principal structural element of epithelial cells. Their importance in providing bulk cellular stiffness is well recognized, but their role in the mechanics of cell cortex is less understood. In this study, we therefore compared the cortical stiffness of three keratinocyte lines: primary wild type cells (NHEK2), immortalized wild type cells (NEB1) and immortalized mutant cells (KEB7). The cortical stiffness was measured by lateral indentation of cells with AOD-steered optical tweezers without employing any moving mechanical elements. The method was validated on fixed cells and Cytochalasin-D treated cells to ensure that the observed variations in stiffness within a single cell line were not a consequence of low measurement precision. The measurements o

SUBMITTER: Zemljic Jokhadar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7774922 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature