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Title: β-Catenin as a Tension Transmitter Revealed by AFM Nanomechanical Testing
Authors: Maki, Koichiro  kyouindb  KAKEN_id  orcid https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7607-2903 (unconfirmed)
Han, Sung Woong
Adachi, Taiji  kyouindb  KAKEN_id  orcid https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5280-4156 (unconfirmed)
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
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