Substrate stiffness modulates migration and local intercellular membrane motion in pulmonary endothelial cell monolayers.

ABSTRACT: The pulmonary artery endothelium forms a semipermeable barrier that limits macromolecular flux through intercellular junctions. This barrier is maintained by an intrinsic forward protrusion of the interacting membranes between adjacent cells. However, the dynamic interactions of these membranes have been incompletely quantified. Here, we present a novel technique to quantify the motion of the peripheral membrane of the cells, called paracellular morphological fluctuations (PMFs), and to assess the impact of substrate stiffness on PMFs. Substrate stiffness impacted large-length scale morphological changes such as cell size and motion. Cell size was larger on stiffer substrates, whereas the speed of cell movement was decreased on hydrogels with stiffness either larger or smaller than 1.25 kP

SUBMITTER: Paudel SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9467474 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature