Compressive forces stabilize microtubules in living cells.
Nat. Mater.. 2023-06-29; 22(7): 913-924
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01578-1
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Li Y(1)(2), Kučera O(1)(2)(3), Cuvelier D(4)(5)(6), Rutkowski DM(7), Deygas
M(4)(5), Rai D(8), Pavlovič T(8), Vicente FN(9), Piel M(4)(5), Giannone G(9),
Vavylonis D(7), Akhmanova A(8), Blanchoin L(10)(11), Théry M(12)(13).
Author information:
(1)Univ. Paris, INSERM, CEA, UMRS1160, Institut de Recherche Saint Louis,
CytoMorpho Lab, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France.
(2)Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, CEA, CNRS, INRA, Interdisciplinary Research Institute
of Grenoble, Laboratoire de Phyiologie Cellulaire & Végétale, CytoMorpho Lab,
Grenoble, France.
(3)Department of Engineering Technology, South East Technological University,
Waterford, Ireland.
(4)Institut Curie, UMR144, Paris, France.
(5)Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, Paris, France.
(6)Sorbonne Université, F-75005, Paris, France.
(7)Department of Physics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA.
(8)Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics, Department of Biology, Faculty of
Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
(9)University Bordeaux, CNRS, Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience,
IINS, UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France.
(10)Univ. Paris, INSERM, CEA, UMRS1160, Institut de Recherche Saint Louis,
CytoMorpho Lab, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France. .
(11)Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, CEA, CNRS, INRA, Interdisciplinary Research Institute
of Grenoble, Laboratoire de Phyiologie Cellulaire & Végétale, CytoMorpho Lab,
Grenoble, France. .
(12)Univ. Paris, INSERM, CEA, UMRS1160, Institut de Recherche Saint Louis,
CytoMorpho Lab, Hôpital Saint Louis, Paris, France. .
(13)Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, CEA, CNRS, INRA, Interdisciplinary Research Institute
of Grenoble, Laboratoire de Phyiologie Cellulaire & Végétale, CytoMorpho Lab,
Grenoble, France. .
Microtubules are cytoskeleton components with unique mechanical and dynamic
properties. They are rigid polymers that alternate phases of growth and
shrinkage. Nonetheless, the cells can display a subset of stable microtubules,
but it is unclear whether microtubule dynamics and mechanical properties are
related. Recent in vitro studies suggest that microtubules have
mechano-responsive properties, being able to stabilize their lattice by
self-repair on physical damage. Here we study how microtubules respond to cycles
of compressive forces in living cells and find that microtubules become
distorted, less dynamic and more stable. This mechano-stabilization depends on
CLASP2, which relocates from the end to the deformed shaft of microtubules. This
process seems to be instrumental for cell migration in confined spaces. Overall,
these results demonstrate that microtubules in living cells have
mechano-responsive properties that allow them to resist and even counteract the
forces to which they are subjected, being a central mediator of cellular
mechano-responses.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01578-1
PMCID: PMC10569437
PMID: 37386067 [Indexed for MEDLINE]