DOI: 10.1042/bc20060039. Traction forces exerted through N‐cadherin contacts

Traction forces exerted through N‐cadherin contacts

10.1042/bc20060039

Crossref journal-article

Wiley

Biology of the Cell (311)

Abstract

Background information. Mechanical forces play an important role in the organization, growth and function of living tissues. The ability of cells to transduce mechanical signals is governed by two types of microscale structures: focal adhesions, which link cells to the extracellular matrix, and adherens junctions, which link adjacent cells through cadherins. Although many studies have examined forces induced by focal adhesions, there is little known about the role of adherens junctions in force‐regulation processes. The present study focuses on the determination of force transduction through cadherins at a single cell level.Results. We characterized for the first time the distribution of forces developed by the cell through cadherin contacts. A N‐cadherin (neural cadherin)–Fc chimaera, which mimicks the cell adhesion molecule N‐cadherin, was immobilized on a μFSA (micro‐force sensor array), comprising a dense array of vertical elastomer pillars, which were used both as a cell culture support for N‐cadherin‐expressing C2 myogenic cells and as detectors for force mapping. We coated the top of the pillars on which cells adhere and recruit adhesion complexes and F‐actin. Individual pillar bending allowed the measurement of forces that mainly developed at the cell edge and directed toward their centre. Similar force distribution and amplitude were detected with an unrelated cell line of neuronal origin. Further comparison with forces applied by cells on pillars coated with fibronectin indicates that mechanical stresses transduced through both types of adhesions were comparable in distribution, orientation and amplitude.Conclusions. These results present a versatile method to measure and map forces exerted by cell—cell adhesion complexes. They show that cells transduce mechanical stress through cadherin contacts which are of the same order as magnitude of those previously characterized for focal adhesions. Altogether, they emphasize the mechanotransduction role of cytoskeleton‐linked adhesion receptors of the cadherin family in tissue cohesion and reshaping.

Bibliography

Ganz, A., Lambert, M., Saez, A., Silberzan, P., Buguin, A., MÃ¨ge, R. M., & Ladoux, B. (2006). Traction forces exerted through Nâcadherin contacts. Biology of the Cell, 98(12), 721â730. Portico.

Authors 7

Arthur Ganz (first)
Mireille Lambert (additional)
Alexandre Saez (additional)
Pascal Silberzan (additional)
Axel Buguin (additional)
René Marc Mège (additional)
Benoît Ladoux (additional)

References 27 Referenced 180

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Dates

Type	When
Created	18 years, 9 months ago (Nov. 20, 2006, 5:11 a.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 10 months ago (Oct. 10, 2023, 4:16 p.m.)
Indexed	1 month ago (Aug. 2, 2025, 1:05 a.m.)
Issued	18 years, 9 months ago (Dec. 1, 2006)
Published	18 years, 9 months ago (Dec. 1, 2006)
Published Online	13 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2012)
Published Print	18 years, 9 months ago (Dec. 1, 2006)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Ganz_2006, title={Traction forces exerted through N‐cadherin contacts}, volume={98}, ISSN={1768-322X}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/bc20060039}, DOI={10.1042/bc20060039}, number={12}, journal={Biology of the Cell}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Ganz, Arthur and Lambert, Mireille and Saez, Alexandre and Silberzan, Pascal and Buguin, Axel and Mège, René Marc and Ladoux, Benoît}, year={2006}, month=dec, pages={721–730} }

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  "abstract": "<jats:p><jats:italic>Background information</jats:italic>. Mechanical forces play an important role in the organization, growth and function of living tissues. The ability of cells to transduce mechanical signals is governed by two types of microscale structures: focal adhesions, which link cells to the extracellular matrix, and adherens junctions, which link adjacent cells through cadherins. Although many studies have examined forces induced by focal adhesions, there is little known about the role of adherens junctions in force\u2010regulation processes. The present study focuses on the determination of force transduction through cadherins at a single cell level.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Results</jats:italic>. We characterized for the first time the distribution of forces developed by the cell through cadherin contacts. A N\u2010cadherin (neural cadherin)\u2013Fc chimaera, which mimicks the cell adhesion molecule N\u2010cadherin, was immobilized on a \u03bcFSA (micro\u2010force sensor array), comprising a dense array of vertical elastomer pillars, which were used both as a cell culture support for N\u2010cadherin\u2010expressing C2 myogenic cells and as detectors for force mapping. We coated the top of the pillars on which cells adhere and recruit adhesion complexes and F\u2010actin. Individual pillar bending allowed the measurement of forces that mainly developed at the cell edge and directed toward their centre. Similar force distribution and amplitude were detected with an unrelated cell line of neuronal origin. Further comparison with forces applied by cells on pillars coated with fibronectin indicates that mechanical stresses transduced through both types of adhesions were comparable in distribution, orientation and amplitude.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Conclusions</jats:italic>. These results present a versatile method to measure and map forces exerted by cell\u2014cell adhesion complexes. They show that cells transduce mechanical stress through cadherin contacts which are of the same order as magnitude of those previously characterized for focal adhesions. Altogether, they emphasize the mechanotransduction role of cytoskeleton\u2010linked adhesion receptors of the cadherin family in tissue cohesion and reshaping.</jats:p>",
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