TY - JOUR
T1 - A connected cytoskeleton network generates axonal tension in embryonic
T2 - Drosophila
AU - Fan, Anthony
AU - Joy, Md Saddam Hossain
AU - Saif, Taher
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Smith-Bolton group at the University of Illinois for supplying the fly line. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NINDS NS063405-01), the National Science Foundation (Science and Technology Center on Emergent Behaviors in Integrated Cellular Systems (EBICS) Grant, CBET-0939511, CMMI-1300808, DGE-1144245, and DGE-0965918), and the Croucher Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
PY - 2019/9/21
Y1 - 2019/9/21
N2 - Axons of neurons are contractile, i.e., they actively maintain a rest tension. However, the spatial origin of this contractility along the axon and the role of the cytoskeleton in generating tension and sustaining rigidity are unknown. Here, using a microfluidic platform, we exposed a small segment of the axons of embryonic Drosophila motor neurons to specific cytoskeletal disruption drugs. We observed that a local actomyosin disruption led to a total loss in axonal tension, with the stiffness of the axon remaining unchanged. A local disruption of microtubules led to a local reduction in bending stiffness, while tension remained unchanged. These observations demonstrated that contractile forces are generated and transferred along the entire length of the axon in a serial fashion. Thus, a local force disruption results in a collapse of tension of the entire axon. This mechanism potentially provides a pathway for rapid tension regulation to facilitate physiological processes that are influenced by axonal tension.
AB - Axons of neurons are contractile, i.e., they actively maintain a rest tension. However, the spatial origin of this contractility along the axon and the role of the cytoskeleton in generating tension and sustaining rigidity are unknown. Here, using a microfluidic platform, we exposed a small segment of the axons of embryonic Drosophila motor neurons to specific cytoskeletal disruption drugs. We observed that a local actomyosin disruption led to a total loss in axonal tension, with the stiffness of the axon remaining unchanged. A local disruption of microtubules led to a local reduction in bending stiffness, while tension remained unchanged. These observations demonstrated that contractile forces are generated and transferred along the entire length of the axon in a serial fashion. Thus, a local force disruption results in a collapse of tension of the entire axon. This mechanism potentially provides a pathway for rapid tension regulation to facilitate physiological processes that are influenced by axonal tension.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071998442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071998442&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/c9lc00243j
DO - 10.1039/c9lc00243j
M3 - Article
C2 - 31435630
AN - SCOPUS:85071998442
VL - 19
SP - 3133
EP - 3139
JO - Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology
JF - Lab on a Chip - Miniaturisation for Chemistry and Biology
SN - 1473-0197
IS - 18
ER -