College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Jinan University, 510632, Guangzhou, China.
Department of Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 25;10(1):3314. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11313-7.
Polymer networks are fundamental from cellular biology to plastics technology but their intrinsic inhomogeneity is masked by the usual ensemble-averaged measurements. Here, we construct direct maps of crosslinks-symbolic depiction of spatially-distributed elements highlighting their physical features and the relationships between them-in an actin network. We selectively label crosslinks with fluorescent markers, track their thermal fluctuations, and characterize the local elasticity and cross-correlations between crosslinks. Such maps display massive heterogeneity, reveal abundant anticorrelations, and may contribute to address how local responses scale up to produce macroscopic elasticity. Single-crosslink microscopy offers a general, microscopic framework to better understand crosslinked molecular networks in undeformed or strained states.
聚合物网络在从细胞生物学到塑料技术等领域都具有基础性作用，但由于通常采用的整体平均测量方法，其本征非均质性被掩盖了。在这里，我们构建了肌动蛋白网络中环的直接图谱，即对空间分布元素的符号表示，突出其物理特征及其之间的关系。我们用荧光标记物选择性地标记交联点，跟踪它们的热波动，并对局部弹性和交联点之间的互相关进行了特征化描述。这种图谱显示出巨大的异质性，揭示了丰富的反相关关系，这可能有助于解释局部响应如何扩展以产生宏观弹性。单交联点显微镜为更好地理解未变形或应变状态下的交联分子网络提供了一个通用的微观框架。
