Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells

Abstract Cellular forces, mechanics and other physical factors are important co-regulators of normal cell and tissue physiology. These cues are often misregulated in diseases such as cancer, where altered tissue mechanics contribute to the disease progression. Furthermore, intercellular tensile and...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Elina Mäntylä, Teemu O. Ihalainen
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/837b2cecffa1492ea17218b16ea20630
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:837b2cecffa1492ea17218b16ea20630
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:837b2cecffa1492ea17218b16ea206302021-12-02T15:15:35ZBrick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells10.1038/s41598-021-97900-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/837b2cecffa1492ea17218b16ea206302021-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97900-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Cellular forces, mechanics and other physical factors are important co-regulators of normal cell and tissue physiology. These cues are often misregulated in diseases such as cancer, where altered tissue mechanics contribute to the disease progression. Furthermore, intercellular tensile and compressive force-related signaling is highlighted in collective cell behavior during development. However, the mechanistic understanding on the role of physical forces in regulation of cellular physiology, including gene expression and signaling, is still lacking. This is partly because studies on the molecular mechanisms of force transmission require easily controllable experimental designs. These approaches should enable both easy mechanical manipulation of cells and, importantly, readouts ranging from microscopy imaging to biochemical assays. To achieve a robust solution for mechanical manipulation of cells, we developed devices built of LEGO bricks allowing manual, motorized and/or cyclic cell stretching and compression studies. By using these devices, we show that $$\upbeta$$ β -catenin responds differentially to epithelial monolayer stretching and lateral compression, either localizing more to the cell nuclei or cell–cell junctions, respectively. In addition, we show that epithelial compression drives cytoplasmic retention and phosphorylation of transcription coregulator YAP1. We provide a complete part listing and video assembly instructions, allowing other researchers to build and use the devices in cellular mechanics-related studies.Elina MäntyläTeemu O. IhalainenNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Elina Mäntylä Teemu O. Ihalainen Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
description	Abstract Cellular forces, mechanics and other physical factors are important co-regulators of normal cell and tissue physiology. These cues are often misregulated in diseases such as cancer, where altered tissue mechanics contribute to the disease progression. Furthermore, intercellular tensile and compressive force-related signaling is highlighted in collective cell behavior during development. However, the mechanistic understanding on the role of physical forces in regulation of cellular physiology, including gene expression and signaling, is still lacking. This is partly because studies on the molecular mechanisms of force transmission require easily controllable experimental designs. These approaches should enable both easy mechanical manipulation of cells and, importantly, readouts ranging from microscopy imaging to biochemical assays. To achieve a robust solution for mechanical manipulation of cells, we developed devices built of LEGO bricks allowing manual, motorized and/or cyclic cell stretching and compression studies. By using these devices, we show that $$\upbeta$$ β -catenin responds differentially to epithelial monolayer stretching and lateral compression, either localizing more to the cell nuclei or cell–cell junctions, respectively. In addition, we show that epithelial compression drives cytoplasmic retention and phosphorylation of transcription coregulator YAP1. We provide a complete part listing and video assembly instructions, allowing other researchers to build and use the devices in cellular mechanics-related studies.
format	article
author	Elina Mäntylä Teemu O. Ihalainen
author_facet	Elina Mäntylä Teemu O. Ihalainen
author_sort	Elina Mäntylä
title	Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
title_short	Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
title_full	Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
title_fullStr	Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
title_full_unstemmed	Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
title_sort	brick strex: a robust device built of lego bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/837b2cecffa1492ea17218b16ea20630
work_keys_str_mv	AT elinamantyla brickstrexarobustdevicebuiltoflegobricksformechanicalmanipulationofcells AT teemuoihalainen brickstrexarobustdevicebuiltoflegobricksformechanicalmanipulationofcells
_version_	1718387517714071552

Brick Strex: a robust device built of LEGO bricks for mechanical manipulation of cells

Ejemplares similares