大象传媒

Synopsis

Cells connect with their environment through surface receptors and use physical tension in receptor鈥搇igand bonds for various cellular processes. Single-molecule techniques have revealed bond strength by measuring 鈥渞upture force,鈥� but it has long been recognized that rupture force is dependent on loading rate鈥攈ow quickly force is ramped up. Thus, the physiological loading rate needs to be measured to reveal the mechanical strength of individual bonds in their functional context. We have developed an overstretching tension sensor (OTS) to allow more accurate force measurement in physiological conditions with single-molecule detection sensitivity even in mechanically active regions. We used serially connected OTSs to show that the integrin loading rate ranged from 0.5 to 4 piconewtons per second and was about three times higher in leukocytes than in epithelial cells.

by Myung Hun Jo, et al.
Science 383 (6689), 1374-9 (2024).