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Force generation and dynamics of individual cilia under external loading

Hill, David B ; Swaminathan, Vinay LU ; Estes, Ashley ; Cribb, Jeremy ; O'Brien, E Timothy ; Davis, C William and Superfine, R (2010) In Biophysical Journal 98(1). p.57-66
Abstract

Motile cilia are unique multimotor systems that display coordination and periodicity while imparting forces to biological fluids. They play important roles in normal physiology, and ciliopathies are implicated in a growing number of human diseases. In this work we measure the response of individual human airway cilia to calibrated forces transmitted via spot-labeled magnetic microbeads. Cilia respond to applied forces by 1), a reduction in beat amplitude (up to an 85% reduction by 160-170 pN of force); 2), a decreased tip velocity proportionate to applied force; and 3), no significant change in beat frequency. Tip velocity reduction occurred in each beat direction, independently of the direction of applied force, indicating that the... (More)

Motile cilia are unique multimotor systems that display coordination and periodicity while imparting forces to biological fluids. They play important roles in normal physiology, and ciliopathies are implicated in a growing number of human diseases. In this work we measure the response of individual human airway cilia to calibrated forces transmitted via spot-labeled magnetic microbeads. Cilia respond to applied forces by 1), a reduction in beat amplitude (up to an 85% reduction by 160-170 pN of force); 2), a decreased tip velocity proportionate to applied force; and 3), no significant change in beat frequency. Tip velocity reduction occurred in each beat direction, independently of the direction of applied force, indicating that the cilium is "driven" in both directions at all times. By applying a quasistatic force model, we deduce that axoneme stiffness is dominated by the rigidity of the microtubules, and that cilia can exert 62 +/- 18 pN of force at the tip via the generation of 5.6 +/- 1.6 pN/dynein head.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cells, Cultured, Cilia/physiology, Computer Simulation, Epithelial Cells/cytology, Humans, Mechanotransduction, Cellular/physiology, Models, Biological, Stress, Mechanical
in
Biophysical Journal
volume
98
issue
1
pages
10 pages
publisher
Cell Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:20085719
  • scopus:74049113746
ISSN
1542-0086
DOI
10.1016/j.bpj.2009.09.048
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
20f39c52-6e0d-48cc-ac7f-69f873f09b4d
date added to LUP
2018-09-07 17:00:08
date last changed
2024-05-27 16:06:39
@article{20f39c52-6e0d-48cc-ac7f-69f873f09b4d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Motile cilia are unique multimotor systems that display coordination and periodicity while imparting forces to biological fluids. They play important roles in normal physiology, and ciliopathies are implicated in a growing number of human diseases. In this work we measure the response of individual human airway cilia to calibrated forces transmitted via spot-labeled magnetic microbeads. Cilia respond to applied forces by 1), a reduction in beat amplitude (up to an 85% reduction by 160-170 pN of force); 2), a decreased tip velocity proportionate to applied force; and 3), no significant change in beat frequency. Tip velocity reduction occurred in each beat direction, independently of the direction of applied force, indicating that the cilium is "driven" in both directions at all times. By applying a quasistatic force model, we deduce that axoneme stiffness is dominated by the rigidity of the microtubules, and that cilia can exert 62 +/- 18 pN of force at the tip via the generation of 5.6 +/- 1.6 pN/dynein head.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hill, David B and Swaminathan, Vinay and Estes, Ashley and Cribb, Jeremy and O'Brien, E Timothy and Davis, C William and Superfine, R}},
  issn         = {{1542-0086}},
  keywords     = {{Cells, Cultured; Cilia/physiology; Computer Simulation; Epithelial Cells/cytology; Humans; Mechanotransduction, Cellular/physiology; Models, Biological; Stress, Mechanical}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{57--66}},
  publisher    = {{Cell Press}},
  series       = {{Biophysical Journal}},
  title        = {{Force generation and dynamics of individual cilia under external loading}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2009.09.048}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.bpj.2009.09.048}},
  volume       = {{98}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}