title: Stimulation of integrin receptors using a magnetic drag force device induces an intracellular free calcium response.
abstract: Mechanical loading of cells is of fundamental relevance in physiological processes and induces several functional responses in cells. Integrins, a family of adhesion receptors, which are responsible for the interaction with the extracellular matrix, may play a role in transmission of mechanical signals into cells. The osteogenic cell line U-2 OS expresses different integrin subunits which are uniformly distributed over the cell surface. We applied defined physical forces on individual integrin receptor subunits using paramagnetic microbeads coated with anti-integrin antibodies. Application of an inhomogeneous magnetic field consequently leads to a mechanical stress on the receptor. Intracellular Ca2+ increased when the alpha 2 or the beta 1 integrin subunits were stressed, whereas mechanical loading of the transferrin receptor had a significantly lower effect. This result indicates that forces specifically exerted to individual integrin receptors induce signal transduction pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Rostock, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pommerenke
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dürr
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nebe
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hahnel
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rychly
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D016023:Integrins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008280:Magnetics; D008863:Microspheres; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000378:metabolism*; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000378:metabolism; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D016023:Integrins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D002118:Calcium