Properties of the Force Exerted by Filopodia and Lamellipodia and the Involvement of Cytoskeletal Components
Authors
Cojoc, DanDifato, Francesco
Ferrari, Enrico
Shahapure, Rajesh B.
Laishram, Jummi
Righi, Massimo
Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.
Torre, Vincent
Issue Date
2007-10-24
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
During neuronal differentiation, lamellipodia and filopodia explore the environment in search for the correct path to the axon's final destination. Although the motion of lamellipodia and filopodia has been characterized to an extent, little is known about the force they exert. In this study, we used optical tweezers to measure the force exerted by filopodia and lamellipodia with a millisecond temporal resolution. We found that a single filopodium exerts a force not exceeding 3 pN, whereas lamellipodia can exert a force up to 20 pN. Using metabolic inhibitors, we showed that no force is produced in the absence of actin polymerization and that development of forces larger than 3 pN requires microtubule polymerization. These results show that actin polymerization is necessary for force production and demonstrate that not only do neurons process information, but they also act on their environment exerting forces varying from tenths pN to tens of pN.Citation
PLoS ONE. 2007 Oct 24; 2(10):e1072ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1371/journal.pone.0001072