@article{df0ce47e6f8e4721a13d62b86082f5af,
title = "Nano-Biomechanical Study of Spatio-Temporal Cytoskeleton Rearrangements that Determine Subcellular Mechanical Properties and Endothelial Permeability",
abstract = "The endothelial cell (EC) lining of the pulmonary vascular system forms a semipermeable barrier between blood and the interstitium and regulates various critical biochemical functions. Collectively, it represents a prototypical biomechanical system, where the complex hierarchical architecture, from the molecular scale to the cellular and tissue level, has an intimate and intricate relationship with its biological functions. We investigated the mechanical properties of human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (ECs) using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Concurrently, the wider distribution and finer details of the cytoskeletal nano-structure were examined using fluorescence microscopy (FM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), respectively. These correlative measurements were conducted in response to the EC barrier-disrupting agent, thrombin, and barrier-enhancing agent, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P). Our new findings and analysis directly link the spatiotemporal complexities of cell re-modeling and cytoskeletal mechanical properties alteration. This work provides novel insights into the biomechanical function of the endothelial barrier and suggests similar opportunities for understanding the form-function relationship in other biomechanical subsystems.",
author = "Xin Wang and Reiner Bleher and Brown, {Mary E.} and Garcia, {Joe G.N.} and Dudek, {Steven M.} and Shekhawat, {Gajendra S.} and Dravid, {Vinayak P.}",
note = "Funding Information: Scanning and Electron Probe Microscope studies in this work made use of the SPID (Scanned Probe Imaging and Development) and EPIC (Electron Probe Instrumentation Center) facilities at NUANCE (Northwestern University{\textquoteright}s Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization Experimental Center), which has received support from the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center, and the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (EEC-0118025/003), both programs of the National Science Foundation, the State of Illinois and Northwestern University. This work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation Award Number 1256188, IDBR: Development of Higher Eigenmode Ultrasound Bioprobe for Sub-Cellular Biological Imaging, National Heart Lung Blood Institute NIH grant P01 HL 58064 (JGNG) and R01 HL 88144 (SMD). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.",
year = "2015",
month = jun,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1038/srep11097",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "5",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
}