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Title: | β-Catenin as a Tension Transmitter Revealed by AFM Nanomechanical Testing |
Authors: | Maki, Koichiro ![]() ![]() ![]() Han, Sung Woong Adachi, Taiji ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Author's alias: | 牧, 功一郎 安達, 泰治 |
Keywords: | β-Catenin Nanomechanical testing Atomic force microscopy Mechanotransduction Single molecule Molecular biomechanics |
Issue Date: | Mar-2015 |
Publisher: | Springer New York LLC |
Journal title: | Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering |
Volume: | 8 |
Issue: | 1 |
Start page: | 14 |
End page: | 21 |
Abstract: | β-Catenin, a component of adherens junction (AJ), transmits forces between cells and stabilizes their balance, thereby contributing to AJ maturation. A previous study based on a single-molecule experiment has suggested that β-catenin unfolds under tension with low mechanical stability, while another study showed its mechanical behavior bearing to high forces. Such discrepancy in mechanical behaviors of β-catenin could be a result of experimental conditions such as solvent compounds, pH, and temperature. In the present study, we successfully tested the mechanical behaviors of β-catenin in a simple experimental condition by employing atomic force microscopy (AFM). To perform nanomechanical testing in phosphate-buffered saline buffer without protein aggregation, we directly modified the AFM probe with β-catenin in a low concentration. We performed two types of experiments, in which a part and a whole structure of β-catenin were loaded under tension. The results of the testing indicated that β-catenin behaves as a nonlinear elastic material under tension, i.e., a mechanical component with low stiffness under low tension and high stiffness under high tension. The nonlinear elastic behavior exhibited in our experiment suggests a mechanical function of β-catenin to serve as a tension transmitter at AJs: (1) preserving links between AJ molecules under low tension and (2) transmitting high tension with high mechanical stability. |
Rights: | This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12195-014-0367-2. This is not the published version. Please cite only the published version. この論文は出版社版でありません。引用の際には出版社版をご確認ご利用ください。 |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2433/235624 |
DOI(Published Version): | 10.1007/s12195-014-0367-2 |
Appears in Collections: | Journal Articles |

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