Dynamic traction force measurements of migrating immune cells in 3D biopolymer matrices

Böhringer D, Cóndor M, Bischof L, Czerwinski T, Gampl N, Ngo P, Bauer A, Bosch-Voskens C, Lopez Posadas R, Franze K, Budday S, Mark C, Fabry B, Gerum R (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

Nature Physics Nature Research

Book Volume: 20

Pages Range: 1816-1823

Journal Issue: 11

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-024-02632-8

Abstract

Immune cells, such as natural killer cells, migrate with high speeds of several micrometres per minute through dense tissue. However, the magnitude of the traction forces during this migration is unknown. Here we present a method to measure dynamic traction forces of fast migrating cells in biopolymer matrices from the observed matrix deformations. Our method accounts for the mechanical nonlinearity of the three-dimensional tissue matrix and can be applied to time series of confocal or bright-field image stacks. It allows for precise force reconstruction over a wide range of force magnitudes and object sizes—even when the imaged volume captures only a small part of the matrix deformation field. We demonstrate the broad applicability of our method by measuring forces from around 1 nN for axon growth cones up to around 10 μN for mouse intestinal organoids. We find that natural killer cells show bursts of large traction forces around 50 nN that increase with matrix stiffness. These force bursts are driven by myosin II contractility, mediated by integrin β1 adhesions, focal adhesion kinase and Rho-kinase activity, and occur predominantly when the cells migrate through narrow matrix pores.

Authors with CRIS profile

David Böhringer Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Lars Bischof Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Tina Czerwinski Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Phuong Ngo Department of Medicine 1 – Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology Andreas Bauer Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Caroline Bosch-Voskens Professur für Translationale Immundermatologie Rocío Lopez Posadas Department of Medicine 1 – Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology Kristian Franze Lehrstuhl für Medizinische Physik und Mikrogewebetechnik (IMP) Silvia Budday Lehrstuhl für Kontinuumsmechanik (Schwerpunkt Biomechanik) Christoph Mark Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Ben Fabry Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Richard Gerum Lehrstuhl für Biophysik

Additional Organisation(s)

Sonderforschungsbereich 1540: Erforschung der Mechanik des Gehirns (EBM): Verständnis, Engineering und Nutzung mechanischer Eigenschaften und Signale in der Entwicklung, Physiologie und Pathologie des zentralen Nervensystems

Involved external institutions

Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (imec) BE Belgium (BE)

How to cite

APA:

Böhringer, D., Cóndor, M., Bischof, L., Czerwinski, T., Gampl, N., Ngo, P.,... Gerum, R. (2024). Dynamic traction force measurements of migrating immune cells in 3D biopolymer matrices. Nature Physics, 20(11), 1816-1823. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02632-8

MLA:

Böhringer, David, et al. "Dynamic traction force measurements of migrating immune cells in 3D biopolymer matrices." Nature Physics 20.11 (2024): 1816-1823.

BibTeX: Download