title: Nanomechanical measurement of astrocyte stiffness correlated with cytoskeletal maturation.
abstract: Astrocytes are known to serve as scaffolding cells that shape the brain. The physical properties of astrocytes, such as stiffness, are important for their scaffolding function. These properties may be altered in certain pathological conditions, such as in brain cancer. However, actual stiffness of astrocytes is not yet well understood. Here, we report that the astrocyte stiffness is positively correlated with the density of cytoskeletal proteins, such as actin filaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments. The value of the stiffness of astrocytes as measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) increases 38-fold in five-week-old rats compared to postnatal-day zero pups. Using multicolor confocal microscopy, we found that the complexity of cytoskeletal proteins, such as actin filaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments, increase as the animal gets older. Our findings indicate that the change of stiffness positively correlates with the maturation of cytoskeletal proteins, and suggest that AFM can be useful as an analytical and diagnostic tool for neuroscience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Kangwon National University, Kangwondaehakgil 1, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do, 200-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Myung
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Thi-Huong
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Kyounghwan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Na
authors.forename: Il-Joo
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Dong Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.forename: Jae-Eung
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: C Justin
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eui-Sung
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D036103:Nanotechnology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
keywords: astrocyte; atomic force microscopy; cell stiffness; cytoskeletal structure; ex vivo culture