title: Investigating piconewton forces in cells by FRET-based molecular force microscopy.
abstract: The ability of cells to sense and respond to mechanical forces is crucial for a wide range of developmental and pathophysiological processes. The molecular mechanisms underlying cellular mechanotransduction, however, are largely unknown because suitable techniques to measure mechanical forces across individual molecules in cells have been missing. In this article, we highlight advances in the development of molecular force sensing techniques and discuss our recently expanded set of FRET-based tension sensors that allows the analysis of mechanical forces with piconewton sensitivity in cells. In addition, we provide a theoretical framework for the design of additional tension sensor modules with adjusted force sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Group of Molecular Mechanotransduction, Martinsried D-82152, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Freikamp
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Munich, Physics Department E22, Garching D-85748, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehlich
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Group of Molecular Mechanotransduction, Martinsried D-82152, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Klingner
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Group of Molecular Mechanotransduction, Martinsried D-82152, Germany. Electronic address: cgrasho@biochem.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grashoff
mesh_terms: D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
keywords: FRET-based tension sensors; Mechanotransduction; Molecular force microscopy; Single-molecule spectroscopy