Invited Talk

Controlling nuclear mechanics from the extracellular matrix and intermediate filaments

Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology, Parc Científic de Barcelona (PCB) c/ Baldiri Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain

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Mechanical signals exerted to the cell surface control cell function in homeostasis and disease. Through integrins and the actin cytoskeleton, these forces are transmitted to the cell nucleus. In response, the nucleus acts as a mechanosensor, regulating transcription, contractility, DNA damage, or chromatin compaction. From this evidence, the control of ECM-nucleus force transmission emerges as an important potential regulator of cell function. Such control could tune mechanosensing to adapt it to specific circumstances, for instance by preventing it when it should not be triggered (mechanical buffering), or by maintaining it for long times (mechanical memory). In this talk, I will present two integrin-mediated examples of mechanical buffering and memory, providing context-dependent mechanisms regulating if and for how long the nucleus should be submitted to force. Both mechanisms are mediated by integrin-actin-intermediate filament coupling, and their implications in cancer will also be discussed.