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Cell Stiffening in Response to External Stress is Correlated to Actin Recruitment

Laboratoire Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7; and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Bâtiment Condorcet, Case 7056, Paris, France

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Sylvie Hénon, E-mail: sylvie.henon{at}univ-paris-diderot.fr.

We designed a micromanipulation device that allows the local application of a constant force on living cells, and the measurement of their stiffness. The force is applied through an Arg-Gly-Asp-coated bead adhering on the cell and trapped in optical tweezers controlled by a feedback loop. Epifluorescence observations of green fluorescent protein-actin in the cells are made during force application. We observe a stiffening of cells submitted to a constant force within a few minutes, coupled to actin recruitment both at the bead-cell contact and up to several micrometers from the stress application zone. Moreover, kinetics of stiffening and actin recruitment exhibit a strong correlation. This work presents the first quantification of the dynamics of cell mechanical reinforcement under stress, which is a novel insight into the elucidation of the more general phenomenon of cell adaptation to stress.