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Lecture

Adhesion and Mechanotransduction

In course

ME-480: Mechanobiology: how mechanics regulate life

The objective of this course is to expose students to the fundamentals of mechanobiology. We will highlight the technologies that enable the study of living systems including mechanical manipulation and characterization, along with computational modeling f ...

Description

This lecture covers the structure and mechanics of mammalian cells, including the cytoskeleton, motor proteins, nucleus, plasma membrane, adhesion, modes of migration, mechanosensation, mechanotransduction, Rho signaling, and transcription factors. It delves into actin dynamics, architecture, and mechanics, specialized actin organizations, mesenchymal migration, integrins, ion-channel opening, and the molecular clutch hypothesis. The instructor explains the functional organization of the genome, integrin-mediated mechanotransduction, catch bonds, receptor clustering, and the role of vinculin in forming catch bonds with F-actin. The lecture also explores super-resolution microscopy, the 3D nanoscale architecture of focal adhesions, PALM technology, nuclear mechanotransduction, mechanobiology, and potential mechanisms of nuclear mechanosensing.

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Instructors (2)

Alexandre Louis André Persat

Mahmut Selman Sakar

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Related concepts (32)

Cell adhesion

Cell adhesion is the process by which cells interact and attach to neighbouring cells through specialised molecules of the cell surface. This process can occur either through direct contact between cell surfaces such as cell junctions or indirect interaction, where cells attach to surrounding extracellular matrix, a gel-like structure containing molecules released by cells into spaces between them. Cells adhesion occurs from the interactions between cell-adhesion molecules (CAMs), transmembrane proteins located on the cell surface.

Focal adhesion

In cell biology, focal adhesions (also cell–matrix adhesions or FAs) are large macromolecular assemblies through which mechanical force and regulatory signals are transmitted between the extracellular matrix (ECM) and an interacting cell. More precisely, focal adhesions are the sub-cellular structures that mediate the regulatory effects (i.e., signaling events) of a cell in response to ECM adhesion. Focal adhesions serve as the mechanical linkages to the ECM, and as a biochemical signaling hub to concentrate and direct numerous signaling proteins at sites of integrin binding and clustering.

Integrin

Integrins are transmembrane receptors that help cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion. Upon ligand binding, integrins activate signal transduction pathways that mediate cellular signals such as regulation of the cell cycle, organization of the intracellular cytoskeleton, and movement of new receptors to the cell membrane. The presence of integrins allows rapid and flexible responses to events at the cell surface (e.g. signal platelets to initiate an interaction with coagulation factors).

Actin

Actin is a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments in the cytoskeleton, and the thin filaments in muscle fibrils. It is found in essentially all eukaryotic cells, where it may be present at a concentration of over 100 μM; its mass is roughly 42 kDa, with a diameter of 4 to 7 nm. An actin protein is the monomeric subunit of two types of filaments in cells: microfilaments, one of the three major components of the cytoskeleton, and thin filaments, part of the contractile apparatus in muscle cells.

Signal transduction

Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events. Most commonly, protein phosphorylation is catalyzed by protein kinases, ultimately resulting in a cellular response. Proteins responsible for detecting stimuli are generally termed receptors, although in some cases the term sensor is used. The changes elicited by ligand binding (or signal sensing) in a receptor give rise to a biochemical cascade, which is a chain of biochemical events known as a signaling pathway.

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