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Mechanobiology of Disease

Poster Abstracts

96

74-POS

Board 74

Nuclear Positioning and Its Translation Dynamics is Regulated by Cell Geometry

Radhakrishnan AV

1

,

Saradha Venkatachalapathy

1

, Shivashankar G.V.

1,2,3

.

1

National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore,

2

National University of Singapore,

Singapore, Singapore,

3

Italian Foundation for Cancer Research, Milan, Italy.

The collective activity of several molecular motors and other active processes generate large

forces for directional motion within the cell and a background of fluctuating forces. These

processes are vital for a multitude of cellular functions such as migration, division and

contraction. In addition, they can also influence the transport and positioning of many cellular

organelles by affecting their intracellular dynamics. This creates unique biophysical signatures

which are altered in many diseases. In this study, we have used the nucleus as a probe particle to

understand the micro-rheological properties of the cytoplasm by using micropatterning

techniques to confine cells in two structurally and functionally extreme geometries. We find that

nuclear positional dynamics is sensitive to the cytoskeletal organization by studying the effect of

actin polymerization, nuclear rigidity, and TNFα cytokine stimulation on the position and

diffusive behavior of the nucleus. Taken together, our results suggest that mapping nuclear

positional dynamics provides important insights into biophysical properties of the cytoplasm.

These biophysical signatures could also be used as an ultrasensitive single-cell assay for early

disease diagnostics.