title: A new micropatterning method of soft substrates reveals that different tumorigenic signals can promote or reduce cell contraction levels.
abstract: In tissues, cell microenvironment geometry and mechanics strongly impact on cell physiology. Surface micropatterning allows the control of geometry while deformable substrates of tunable stiffness are well suited for the control of the mechanics. We developed a new method to micropattern extracellular matrix proteins on poly-acrylamide gels in order to simultaneously control cell geometry and mechanics. Microenvironment geometry and mechanics impinge on cell functions by regulating the development of intra-cellular forces. We measured these forces in micropatterned cells. Micropattern geometry was streamlined to orient forces and place cells in comparable conditions. Thereby force measurement method could be simplified and applied to large-scale experiment on chip. We applied this method to mammary epithelial cells with traction force measurements in various conditions to mimic tumoral transformation. We found that, contrary to the current view, all transformation phenotypes were not always associated to an increased level of cell contractility.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Végétale, iRTSV, CEA/CNRS/UJF/INRA, 17 rue des martyrs, 38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Qingzong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Eve
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duchemin-Pelletier
authors.forename: Ammar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azioune
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Carpi
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Filhol
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piel
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Théry
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Balland
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D000099166:Polyacrylamides
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D005782:Gels; D000099166:Polyacrylamides