Probing the dynamic responses of individual actin filaments under fluidic mechanical stimulation via microfluidics

摘要

Herein, we demonstrate an easy-to-handle approach that employs a combination of microcurvilinear flow and fluorescence microscopy for probing the dynamic responses of individual synthesized actin filaments. We observed morphological changes of single actin filaments with different spatiotemporal responses when they were elongated with rotation or underwent significant bending during fluidic shear stress, and found that they may initially increase their curvature but then start releasing the external force immediately thereafter. Our approach allowed us to visibly examine the dynamic responses of individual actin filaments under simultaneous forces of rotation and elongation, as well as bending resulting from fluidic shear stress.