Project description:Cells are subjected to dynamic mechanical environments which impart forces and induce cellular responses. In age-related conditions like pulmonary fibrosis, there is both an increase in tissue stiffness and an accumulation of senescent cells. While senescent cells produce a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), the impact of physical stimuli on both cellular senescence and the SASP is not well understood. Here, we show that mechanical tension, modeled using cell culture substrate rigidity, influences senescent cell markers like SA-β-gal and secretory phenotypes. Comparing human primary pulmonary fibroblasts (IMR-90) cultured on physiological (2 kPa), fibrotic (50 kPa), and plastic (approximately 3 GPa) substrates, followed by senescence induction using doxorubicin, we identified unique high-stiffness-driven secretory protein profiles using mass spectrometry and transcriptomic signatures, both showing an enrichment in collagen proteins. Consistently, clusters of p21+ cells are seen in fibrotic regions of bleomycin induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice. Computational meta-analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing datasets from human interstitial lung disease confirmed these stiffness SASP genes are highly expressed in disease fibroblasts and strongly correlate with mechanotransduction and senescence-related pathways. Thus, mechanical forces shape cell senescence and their secretory phenotypes.
Project description:Cells are subjected to dynamic mechanical environments which impart various forces and induce cellular responses. In age-related conditions like pulmonary fibrosis, there is both an increase in tissue stiffness and an accumulation of senescent cells, leading to elevated tension in fibroblasts among other cells. While senescent cells produce a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), the impact of physical stimuli on both cellular senescence and SASP is not well understood. Here, we show that mechanical tension, modeled using cell culture substrate rigidity, influences senescent cell markers like SA-beta-gal and secretory phenotypes. Comparing human primary pulmonary fibroblasts (IMR-90) cultured on physiological (2 kPa), fibrotic (50 kPa), and plastic (3 GPa) substrates followed by senescence induction using doxorubicin, we identified unique high-stiffness-driven secretory protein profiles using mass spectrometry and transcriptomic signatures, both showing an enrichment in collagen proteins. Computational meta-analysis of human interstitial lung disease single-cell RNA sequencing datasets confirmed these genes are highly expressed in disease samples and strongly correlate with mechanotransduction and senescence-related pathways. Thus, mechanical forces shape cell senescence and their secretory phenotypes.
Project description:Almost all cells respond to the mechanical stiffness of their microenvironment through alter gene expression. Mammary epithelial cells respond to the mechanics of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in a way that can alter their behaviour and be pro-oncogenic. How increased ECM stiffness promotes transformation is unclear, but it can increase the incidence of DNA damage. This experiment was undertaken to identify changes in gene expression in non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cells (murine Eph4) in response to different ECM stiffness. Epg4 cells were grown in either a soft or stiff 3D Matrigel-Alginate hydrogel, or on soft and stiff 2D polyacrylamide hydrogel. RNAseq was undertaken to identify gene expression changes associated with both stiffness and 2D vs. 3D culture conditions.