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Genome-scale mechanical phenotyping of mitotic cells
To divide, most animal cells drastically change shape and round up against extracellular confinement. Here, we phenotype the contribution of > 1000 genes to the rounding of single mitotic cells against confinement. Our screen identifies 49 genes relevant for mitotic rounding. Among these being disease related including Parkinson's.
Integrins sense load and signal to reinforce adhesion in less than 1 s
During adhesion initiation, fibroblasts respond to mechanical load by strengthening integrin-mediated adhesion to fibronectin (FN) in a biphasic manner. This unique, biphasic cellular adhesion response is mediated by α5β1 integrins, which form catch bonds with FN and signal to FN-binding integrins to reinforce cell adhesion much before visible adhesion clusters are formed..