Quantitative studies of endothelial cell fibronectin and filamentous actin (F-Actin) coalignment in response to shear stress

X Gong, X Zhao, B Li, Y Sun, M Liu… - Microscopy and …, 2017 - academic.oup.com
X Gong, X Zhao, B Li, Y Sun, M Liu, Y Huang, X Jia, J Ji, Y Fan
Microscopy and Microanalysis, 2017academic.oup.com
Both fibronectin (FN) and filamentous actin (F-actin) fibers play a critical role for endothelial
cells (ECs) in responding to shear stress and modulating cell alignment and functions. FN is
dynamically coupled to the F-actin cytoskeleton via focal adhesions. However, it is unclear
how ECs cooperatively remodel their subcellular FN matrix and intracellular F-actin
cytoskeleton in response to shear stress. Current studies are hampered by the lack of a
reliable and sensitive quantification method of FN orientation. In this study, we developed a …
Abstract
Both fibronectin (FN) and filamentous actin (F-actin) fibers play a critical role for endothelial cells (ECs) in responding to shear stress and modulating cell alignment and functions. FN is dynamically coupled to the F-actin cytoskeleton via focal adhesions. However, it is unclear how ECs cooperatively remodel their subcellular FN matrix and intracellular F-actin cytoskeleton in response to shear stress. Current studies are hampered by the lack of a reliable and sensitive quantification method of FN orientation. In this study, we developed a MATLAB-based feature enhancement method to quantify FN and F-actin orientation. The role of F-actin in FN remodeling was also studied by treating ECs with cytochalasin D. We have demonstrated that FN and F-actin codistributed and coaligned parallel to the flow direction, and that F-actin alignment played an essential role in regulating FN alignment in response to shear stress. Our findings offer insight into how ECs cooperatively remodel their subcellular ECM and intracellular F-actin cytoskeleton in response to mechanical stimuli, and are valuable for vascular tissue engineering.
Oxford University Press