The regulatory role of MACF1 on actin filaments and cell mechanical property of osteoblast
HU Lifang1,2, WU Zixiang1, CONG Xiaolan2, ALIOSCHA-PEREZ Mitchel3, WANG Zhe1, JIANG Dongmei2*, QIAN Airong1*, SAHLI Hichem2,3,4
(1 School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi′an 710072, Shaanxi, China; 2 School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi′an 710072, Shaanxi, China; 3 Department of Electronics & Informatics (ETRO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels B-1050, Belgium; 4 Interuniversity Microelectronics Center, Leuven 3001, Belgium)
Abstract:
To investigate the regulation effects of microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1), a critical cytoskeletal crosslinker, on the actin filaments and cell mechanical property of osteoblast, the MACF1 knockdown(MACF1-KD) osteoblast in mice and the corresponding control cell line were adopted. The actin filaments were treated with immunofluorescence staining and observed by laser scanning confocal microscope. The images of actin filaments were quantitatively analyzed by a robust actin filaments analysis framework. The cell Young′s modulus was determined by atomic force microscope. Results showed that in comparison with the control samples, knockdown of MACF1 resulted in significantly altered angle distribution of the actin filaments, increased length and number of actin filaments, and significantly decreased cell stiffness of osteoblast. These results lay an experimental foundation for further understanding of the function of MACF1 in osteoblast, and provide a new target for the prevention and treatment of bone diseases(e.g. osteoporosis) caused by the function changes of osteoblast.
KeyWords:
MACF1; osteoblast; actin filaments; image analysis; cell mechanical property
