Materials Institute of Atomic and Molecular Science, School of Physics & Information Science, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, P. R. China.
Shanxi-Zheda Institute of Advanced Materials and Chemical Engineering, Taiyuan, P. R. China.
J Mater Chem B. 2024 Mar 27;12(13):3249-3261. doi: 10.1039/d4tb00065j.
Over the past few decades, the critical role played by cellular contractility associated mechanotransduction in the regulation of cell functions has been revealed. In this case, numerous biomaterials have been chemically or structurally designed to manipulate cell behaviors through the regulation of cellular contractility. In particular, adhesive proteins including fibronectin, poly-L-lysine and collagen type I have been widely applied in various biomaterials to improve cell adhesion. Therefore, clarifying the effects of adhesive proteins on cellular contractility has been valuable for the development of biomaterial design. In this study, reference-free traction force microscopy with a well-organized microdot array was designed and prepared to investigate the relationship between adhesive proteins, cellular contractility, and mechanotransduction. The results showed that fibronectin and collagen type I were able to promote the assembly of focal adhesions and further enhance cellular contraction and YAP activity. In contrast, although poly-L-lysine supported cell spreading and elongation, it was inefficient at inducing cell contractility and activating YAP. Additionally, compared with cellular morphogenesis, cellular contraction was essential for YAP activation.
在过去的几十年中，细胞收缩相关的机械转导在细胞功能调节中所起的关键作用已经被揭示。在这种情况下，已经有许多生物材料通过调节细胞收缩被化学或结构设计来操控细胞行为。特别是包括纤维连接蛋白、聚-L-赖氨酸和 I 型胶原在内的黏附蛋白已被广泛应用于各种生物材料中以改善细胞黏附。因此，阐明黏附蛋白对细胞收缩的影响对于生物材料设计的发展是有价值的。在这项研究中，设计并制备了具有良好组织的微点阵列的无参考牵引力显微镜，以研究黏附蛋白、细胞收缩和机械转导之间的关系。结果表明，纤维连接蛋白和 I 型胶原能够促进焦点黏附的组装，进一步增强细胞收缩和 YAP 活性。相比之下，尽管聚-L-赖氨酸支持细胞扩展和伸长，但它在诱导细胞收缩和激活 YAP 方面效率不高。此外，与细胞形态发生相比，细胞收缩对于 YAP 的激活是必需的。
