Fig. 4
Vinculin force oscillations distinguish middle and distal regions of the mandibular arch. a Conditional Rosa26 knock-in mouse strains: full length vinculin tension sensor (VinTS), TFP (FRET donor) only control (VinTFP), vinculin tailless control (VinTL). b Tension sensor expression among epithelial cells in the mandibular arch with one cell cortex highlighted as region of interest. Colour scale shows range of lifetime (in nanonseconds, ns) and corresponding force values (in picoNewtons, pN). c Individual cell fluorescence lifetime values in middle (mid) and distal (dist) epithelium and mesenchyme of the mandibular arch. Boxplots show mean (x), median (---), central quartiles (coloured box), and range (transverse end bars); n = 15 cells per region in each of 3 embryos. d Representative vinculin force curves of individual cells in middle and distal regions, and donor only control. Lifetime readings were taken at two minute intervals, error bars denote s.e.m. e Multiple vinculin force curves. The sample variance of lifetime values, a measure of amplitude, was greater among middle (0.0201 ns) versus distal (0.0132 ns) mesenchymal cells (n = 5 embryos, 15 cells per embryo per condition, p = 0.03, t-test). Mean lifetime variance was lower among middle mesenchymal cells of control VinTL (0.0028 ns, p = 0.02, ANOVA) and VinTFP (0.0006 ns, p = 0.01, n = 3 embryos, 15 cells per embryo per condition) strains. f Correlations of VinTS fluorescence lifetime and calcium reporter X-rhod-1 fluctuation (defined as the percentage of X-rhod-1-positive area for each cell at each time point) in middle and distal arch regions over time (18 cells per region). Source data are provided as a Source Data file
