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Full-Text Articles in Physics
The Vimentin Cytoskeleton: When Polymer Physics Meets Cell Biology, Alison E. Patteson, Robert J. Carroll, Daniel V. Iwamoto, Paul A. Janmey
The Vimentin Cytoskeleton: When Polymer Physics Meets Cell Biology, Alison E. Patteson, Robert J. Carroll, Daniel V. Iwamoto, Paul A. Janmey
Physics - All Scholarship
The proper functions of tissues depend on the ability of cells to withstand stress and maintain shape. Central to this process is the cytoskeleton, comprised of three polymeric networks: F-actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments (IFs). IF proteins are among the most abundant cytoskeletal proteins in cells; yet they remain some of the least understood. Their structure and function deviate from those of their cytoskeletal partners, F-actin and microtubules. IF networks show a unique combination of extensibility, flexibility and toughness that confers mechanical resilience to the cell. Vimentin is an IF protein expressed in mesenchymal cells. This review highlights exciting new …
Mechanical And Non-Mechanical Functions Of Filamentous And Non-Filamentous Vimentin, Alison E. Patteson, Amir Vahabikashi, Robert D. Goldman, Paul A. Janmey
Mechanical And Non-Mechanical Functions Of Filamentous And Non-Filamentous Vimentin, Alison E. Patteson, Amir Vahabikashi, Robert D. Goldman, Paul A. Janmey
Physics - All Scholarship
Intermediate filaments (IFs) formed by vimentin are less understood than their cytoskeletal partners, microtubules and F-actin, but the unique physical properties of IFs, especially their resistance to large deformations, initially suggest a mechanical function. Indeed, vimentin IFs help regulate cell mechanics and contractility, and in crowded 3D environments they protect the nucleus during cell migration. Recently, a multitude of studies, often using genetic or proteomic screenings show that vimentin has many non-mechanical functions within and outside of cells. These include signaling roles in wound healing, lipogenesis, sterol processing, and various functions related to extracellular and cell surface vimentin. Extracellular vimentin …
Loops Versus Lines And The Compression Stiffening Of Cells, Mahesh C. Gandikota, Katarzyna Pogoda, Anne Van Oosten, Tyler A. Engstrom, Alison E. Patteson, Paul E. Janmey, J. M. Schwarz
Loops Versus Lines And The Compression Stiffening Of Cells, Mahesh C. Gandikota, Katarzyna Pogoda, Anne Van Oosten, Tyler A. Engstrom, Alison E. Patteson, Paul E. Janmey, J. M. Schwarz
Physics - All Scholarship
Both animal and plant tissue exhibit a nonlinear rheological phenomenon known as compression stiffening, or an increase in moduli with increasing uniaxial compressive strain. Does such a phenomenon exist in single cells, which are the building blocks of tissues? One expects an individual cell to compression soften since the semiflexible biopolymer-based cytoskeletal network maintains the mechanical integrity of the cell and in vitro semiflexible biopolymer networks typically compression soften. To the contrary, we find that mouse embryonic fibroblasts (mEFs) compression stiffen under uniaxial compression via atomic force microscopy studies. To understand this finding, we uncover several potential mechanisms for compression …