Feel the Force

Latching on, pulling, stretching and squeezing inside us, cells need to feel the strain in order to survive. Springy 'load-bearing' proteins poke out from their membranes, helping to adjust to hard or soft surroundings. In these mouse cells, fluorescent sensors snoop on this tiny mechanobiology – examining the forces at play on vinculin, a protein involved in anchoring a cell to its environment. As the cells attach to a platform underneath, sensors with different sensitivities (left to right) detect how much the vinculin is pulled about (top row), compared to how much it extends (bottom row) – coloured light acts as a measure, with white light showing the greatest forces. Analysis shows that cellular forces change and adapt to pull vinculin to a specific length – the next job is to see how this works in stiff cancer microenvironments or soft developing tissues.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Andrew S LaCroix and colleagues
• Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, July 2018