An Approach to Visualize the Deformation of the Intermediate Filament Cytoskeleton in Response to Locally Applied Forces

Figure 5

Cellular Young’s modulus and average IF displacement as a function of time. (a) The average Young’s modulus between elongated (white bar) and flat (grey bar) cells is 3.3±0.1 and 5.9±0.2 kPa, respectively (𝑃=1×10⁻⁹). (b) The average displacement of nodes in a photobleached grid on the IF CSK in flat (black symbols) and elongated cells (white symbols) during a 20 nN indentation (circles) and under control conditions (squares) plotted as a function of time. For elongated and flat cells there is a statistically significant increase in displacement at 𝑡=30 sec after force application (𝑃<0.001). However, for elongated cells this statistically significant difference disappears by 𝑡=90 sec (𝑃>0.05). For flat cells this difference disappears by 𝑡=120 sec (𝑃>0.05).

(a)

(b)