Figure 1
From: Vinculin and the mechanical response of adherent fibroblasts to matrix deformation
Experimental design. (a) Immunofluorescent images of adherent control (left panels) and vinculin KO (right panels) cells on silicone-coated glass coverslips. Vinculin and paxillin are focal adhesion proteins. Phalloidin stains for actin and DAPI for cell nuclei. p-MLC (phospho-myosin light chain) marks active myosin. (b) Schematic of the set-up for cell stretching. As a thick silicone substrate is indented with a glass capillary tube, the surface is stretched equi-biaxially, stretching the attached cell. (c) Beads embedded under the silicone surface are tracked from an un-stretched to stretched state, showing the magnitude of applied strain. (d) The far-field strain is subtracted from the displacement map of the embedded beads (in c), leaving only the residual displacements caused by the pulling of the cell. (e) Stresses are calculated from the displacement map (in d). (c–e) White lines represent the scale bar of the fluorescent cell image. Colored arrows represent the scale bar of the overlaid displacements or stresses. (f) An example of real data showing the evolution of force changes. The applied strain is plotted over the time of the experiment, showing the pre-stretched, stretched and post-release state of the cell (above). The force magnitudes applied by the cell are integrated and shown throughout the same course of the experiment (below). (g) A schematic showing the force trace over time and the quantities focused on in our analysis.
