{"id":383,"date":"2012-04-13T13:01:58","date_gmt":"2012-04-13T20:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/?page_id=383"},"modified":"2020-03-02T17:35:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T17:35:01","slug":"mechanics-of-neurons","status":"publish","type":"research","link":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/research\/mechanics-of-neurons\/","title":{"rendered":"Mechanics of Neurons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In recent years it has become increasingly evident that mechanical stimuli play an important role in the differentiation, growth, development, and motility of cells.  Neurons in particular have been shown to be highly sensitive to  mechanical forces – experiments have shown that mechanical forces significantly influence the initiation, growth, and retraction of neurites  in vitro. However,  the in vivo response of neurons to forces has been a largely unexplored area.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have used our BioMEMS force sensors to explore, for the first time, \u00a0the in vivo mechanical behavior of neurons in Drosophila (fruit fly) embryos. Our results\u00a0show that Drosophila neurons maintain a rest tension (1\u201313 nN) and behave like viscoelastic solids\u00a0in response to sustained stretching. More importantly,\u00a0when their tension is suddenly diminished, neurons contract and actively\u00a0generate force to restore tension.\u00a0These observations are remarkably similar\u00a0to results from in vitro studies and suggest that mechanical tension may strongly influence neuronal behavior in vivo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

a) Phase-contrast image showing a dissected Drosophila embryo and the force sensor. (b) A higher-magnification image of an axon being deformed by a force sensor. (c) Fluorescence image of the Drosophila embryo expressing GFP in all neuronal membranes. (d-f) Mechanical response of the Droshophila neurons showing linear force-deformation behavior (d), force relaxation (e) and force build-up (f). <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Publications<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

1. J. Rajagopalan, A. Tofangchi and M. T. A. Saif, \u201cDrosophila<\/em> neurons actively regulate axonal tension in vivo<\/em>,\u201d Biophysical Journal<\/em> 99, 3208-3215, 2010 (pdf<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. W. W. Ahmed, J. Rajagopalan, A. Tofangchi and M. T. A. Saif, “Neuromechanics: The role of tension in neuronal growth and memory,” in Nano and Cell Mechanics (Eds. Horacio Espinosa and Gang Bao), John Wiley and Sons, to appear 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.  J. Rajagopalan, A. Tofangchi and M. T. A. Saif, \u201cThe role of mechanical tension in neurons,\u201d MRS Symposium Proceedings<\/em> Vol. 1274, 3-7, 2010 (pdf<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent years it has become increasingly evident that mechanical stimuli play an important role in the differentiation, growth, development, and motility of cells.  Neurons in particular have been shown to be highly sensitive to  mechanical forces – experiments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"research-theme":[],"funding-source":[],"class_list":["post-383","research","type-research","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/research"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research\/383\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"research-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-theme?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"funding-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faculty.engineering.asu.edu\/jagan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/funding-source?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}