title: Tension sensing nanoparticles for mechano-imaging at the living/nonliving interface.
abstract: Studying chemomechanical coupling at interfaces is important for fields ranging from lubrication and tribology to microfluidics and cell biology. Several polymeric macro- and microscopic systems and cantilevers have been developed to image forces at interfaces, but few materials are amenable for molecular tension sensing. To address this issue, we have developed a gold nanoparticle sensor for molecular tension-based fluorescence microscopy. As a proof of concept, we imaged the tension exerted by integrin receptors at the interface between living cells and a substrate with high spatial (<1 μm) resolution, at 100 ms acquisition times and with molecular specificity. We report integrin tension values ranging from 1 to 15 pN and a mean of ~1 pN within focal adhesions. Through the use of a conventional fluorescence microscope, this method demonstrates a force sensitivity that is 3 orders of magnitude greater than is achievable by traction force microscopy or polydimethylsiloxane micropost arrays, which are the standard in cellular biomechanics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Emory University, 1515 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yehl
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Narui
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salaita
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006046:Gold