Local Tension on Talin in Focal Adhesions Correlates with F-Actin Alignment at the Nanometer Scale

Abhishek Kumar, Karen L. Anderson, Mark F. Swift, Dorit Hanein*, Niels Volkmann, Martin A. Schwartz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cellular force transmission and mechanotransduction are critical in embryogenesis, normal physiology, and many diseases. Talin plays a key role in these processes by linking integrins to force-generating actomyosin. Using the previously characterized FRET-based talin tension sensor, we observed variations of tension both between and within individual focal adhesions in the same cell. Assembling and sliding adhesions showed gradients with higher talin tension toward the cell center, whereas mature, stable adhesions had uniform talin tension. Total talin accumulation was maximal in high-tension regions; by contrast, vinculin intensity was flat or maximal at the adhesion center, and actin intensity was maximal toward the cell center. To investigate mechanism, we combined talin tension imaging with cellular cryotomography to visualize the correlated actin organization at nanometer resolution. Regions of high talin tension had highly aligned linear actin filaments, whereas regions of low tension had less-well-aligned F-actin. These results reveal an orchestrated spatiotemporal relationship between talin tension, actin/vinculin localization, local actin organization, and focal adhesion dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1569-1579
Number of pages11
JournalBIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume115
Issue number8
Early online date10 Sept 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Oct 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Local Tension on Talin in Focal Adhesions Correlates with F-Actin Alignment at the Nanometer Scale'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this