Nonlinear mechanics of lamin filaments and the meshwork topology build an emergent nuclear lamina
Name
s41467-020-20049-8.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.74 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
9d49caf6fce3b368259e5483c37f0ad4
Author(s)
Sapra, K Tanuj
Qin, Zhao
Dubrovsky-Gaupp, Anna
Aebi, Ueli
Müller, Daniel J
Buehler, Markus J
Medalia, Ohad
Date Issued
December 2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Citation
Sapra, K.T. et al. Nonlinear mechanics of lamin filaments and the meshwork topology build an emergent nuclear lamina. Nat Commun 11, 6205 (2020) © 2020, The Author(s).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The nuclear lamina—a meshwork of intermediate filaments termed lamins—is primarily responsible for the mechanical stability of the nucleus in multicellular organisms. However, structural-mechanical characterization of lamin filaments assembled in situ remains elusive. Here, we apply an integrative approach combining atomic force microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, network analysis, and molecular dynamics simulations to directly measure the mechanical response of single lamin filaments in three-dimensional meshwork. Endogenous lamin filaments portray non-Hookean behavior – they deform reversibly at a few hundred picoNewtons and stiffen at nanoNewton forces. The filaments are extensible, strong and tough similar to natural silk and superior to the synthetic polymer Kevlar®. Graph theory analysis shows that the lamin meshwork is not a random arrangement of filaments but exhibits small-world properties. Our results suggest that lamin filaments arrange to form an emergent meshwork whose topology dictates the mechanical properties of individual filaments. The quantitative insights imply a role of meshwork topology in laminopathies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/S41467-020-20049-8
