Regensburg 2013 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 32: Cell Adhesion and Mechanics
BP 32.10: Vortrag
Freitag, 15. März 2013, 12:00–12:15, H43
Viscoelastic properties of differentiating blood stem cells evolve to suit their functions — •Andrew Ekpenyong1,3, Graeme Whyte1, Kevin Chalut1, Stefano Pagliara1, Chii Jou Chan1,3, Stephan Paschke2, Ulrich F. Keyser1, and Jochen Guck1,3 — 1Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK. — 2Department of Surgery, University of Ulm, 89075 Ulm, Germany. — 3Biotechnology Center, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
It has become clear that stem cells can alter their mechanical properties during differentiation. But understanding of the functional relevance of such alterations is incomplete. Here, we show that during the differentiation of human myeloid precursor cells into three different lineages, the cells modulate their viscoelastic properties to suit their fates and functions. Myeloid cells circulating in blood have to be advected through constrictions in blood vessels, engendering the need for compliance at short time-scales. Intriguingly, only the two circulating myeloid cell types have increased short time-scale compliance and flow better through microfluidic constrictions. Furthermore, all three differentiated cell types show a reduction in steady-state viscosity, enabling them to migrate better through tissue-like pores, compared to undifferentiated cells. Moreover, we find similar fate-specific differences in compliance between primary human CD34+ stem cells and the differentiated cells. Our results indicate that the mechanical properties of cells define their function, can be used as a differentiation marker and could serve as target for new therapies.