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

Figure 6

Colour contour maps revealing local displacement of IFs in both elongated and flat cells through a period of 210 sec under control and mechanically stimulated conditions. Cells that were indented by the AFM have the location of indentation (the centre of the nucleus) marked by an “x”. Elongated cells tend to display large magnitude displacements, often localized towards one part of the cell, regardless of force application. Flat cells tend to display smaller (compared to elongated cells) and anisotropic IF movements in response to force application.