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Bulteau R, Barbier L, Lamour G, Piolot T, Labrune E, Campillo C, Terret ME. Mechanical Characterization of Murine Oocytes by Atomic Force Microscopy. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2740:117-124. [PMID: 38393472 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3557-5_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
The quality of murine and human oocytes correlates to their mechanical properties, which are tightly regulated to reach the blastocyst stage after fertilization. Oocytes are nonadherent spherical cells with a diameter over 80 μm. Their mechanical properties have been studied in our lab and others using the micropipette aspiration technique, particularly to obtain the oocyte cortical tension. Micropipette aspiration is affordable but has a low throughput and induces cell-scale deformation. Here we present a step-by-step protocol to characterize the mechanical properties of oocytes using atomic force microscopy (AFM), which is minimally invasive and has a much higher throughput. We used electron microscopy grids to immobilize oocytes. This allowed us to obtain local and reproducible measurements of the cortical tension of murine oocytes during their meiotic divisions. Cortical tension values obtained by AFM are in agreement with the ones previously obtained by micropipette aspiration. Our protocol could help characterize the biophysical properties of oocytes or other types of large nonadherent samples in fundamental and medical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose Bulteau
- Université Paris-Saclay, Univ Evry, CNRS, LAMBE, Paris, France
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France
| | - Lucie Barbier
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France
| | | | - Tristan Piolot
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France
| | - Elsa Labrune
- Hospices Civils de Lyon, Service de Médecine de la Reproduction, Bron, France
- Faculté de Médecine, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- INSERM U1208, Stem Cells and Brain Institute, Bron, France
| | - Clément Campillo
- Université Paris-Saclay, Univ Evry, CNRS, LAMBE, Paris, France.
- Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France.
| | - Marie-Emilie Terret
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France.
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Cohen J, Wang L, Marques S, Ialy-Radio C, Barbaux S, Lefèvre B, Gourier C, Ziyyat A. Oocyte ERM and EWI Proteins Are Involved in Mouse Fertilization. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:863729. [PMID: 35359433 PMCID: PMC8963852 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.863729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In mammalian fertilization, the link between the oocyte plasma membrane and underneath cytoskeleton has often been associated to key elements of successful gamete fusion, like microvilli shaping or CD9 function, but its effective role has poorly been studied. EWI-2 and EWI-F as cis partners of CD9, and ERM proteins (Ezrin, Radixin and Moesin) that both attach to the actin cytoskeleton and to the EWI are part of the molecules that make the link between the oocyte membrane and its cytoskeleton. This study aims to assay through siRNA inhibition, the involvement of these ERM and EWI molecules in mouse fertilization, their role in the microvilli morphology of the egg but also their possible contribution to the cortical tension, a parameter that reflects the mechanical behavior of the oocyte cortex. Whereas inhibiting separately the expression of each protein had no effect on fertilization, the combined inhibition of either EWI-2/EWI-F or the three ERM triggered a significant decrease of the fertilization index. This inhibition seems to correlate with an increase in the radius of curvature of the oocyte microvilli. It also causes a decrease of the oocyte cortical tension. These results show the importance of EWI-2 and EWI–F and ERM proteins in the smooth running of a fertilization event and support their involvement in the microvilli architecture of the oocyte and in its mechanical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Cohen
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - L Wang
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
- Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, Paris, France
- Department of Histo-embryology, Genetics and Developmental Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - S Marques
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - C Ialy-Radio
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - S Barbaux
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - B Lefèvre
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - C Gourier
- Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - A Ziyyat
- Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Paris, Paris, France
- Service d’histologie, d’embryologie, Biologie de la Reproduction, AP-HP, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France
- *Correspondence: A Ziyyat,
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Taubenberger AV, Baum B, Matthews HK. The Mechanics of Mitotic Cell Rounding. Front Cell Dev Biol 2020; 8:687. [PMID: 32850812 PMCID: PMC7423972 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2020.00687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
When animal cells enter mitosis, they round up to become spherical. This shape change is accompanied by changes in mechanical properties. Multiple studies using different measurement methods have revealed that cell surface tension, intracellular pressure and cortical stiffness increase upon entry into mitosis. These cell-scale, biophysical changes are driven by alterations in the composition and architecture of the contractile acto-myosin cortex together with osmotic swelling and enable a mitotic cell to exert force against the environment. When the ability of cells to round is limited, for example by physical confinement, cells suffer severe defects in spindle assembly and cell division. The requirement to push against the environment to create space for spindle formation is especially important for cells dividing in tissues. Here we summarize the evidence and the tools used to show that cells exert rounding forces in mitosis in vitro and in vivo, review the molecular basis for this force generation and discuss its function for ensuring successful cell division in single cells and for cells dividing in normal or diseased tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna V. Taubenberger
- Biotechnology Center, Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Buzz Baum
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Helen K. Matthews
- MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Cortes DB, Dawes A, Liu J, Nickaeen M, Strychalski W, Maddox AS. Unite to divide - how models and biological experimentation have come together to reveal mechanisms of cytokinesis. J Cell Sci 2018; 131:131/24/jcs203570. [PMID: 30563924 DOI: 10.1242/jcs.203570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytokinesis is the fundamental and ancient cellular process by which one cell physically divides into two. Cytokinesis in animal and fungal cells is achieved by contraction of an actomyosin cytoskeletal ring assembled in the cell cortex, typically at the cell equator. Cytokinesis is essential for the development of fertilized eggs into multicellular organisms and for homeostatic replenishment of cells. Correct execution of cytokinesis is also necessary for genome stability and the evasion of diseases including cancer. Cytokinesis has fascinated scientists for well over a century, but its speed and dynamics make experiments challenging to perform and interpret. The presence of redundant mechanisms is also a challenge to understand cytokinesis, leaving many fundamental questions unresolved. For example, how does a disordered cytoskeletal network transform into a coherent ring? What are the long-distance effects of localized contractility? Here, we provide a general introduction to 'modeling for biologists', and review how agent-based modeling and continuum mechanics modeling have helped to address these questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel B Cortes
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 407 Fordham Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Adriana Dawes
- Departments of Mathematics and of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, 100 Math Tower, 231 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Jian Liu
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Biochemistry and Biophysics Center, 50 South Drive, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Masoud Nickaeen
- Richard D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling, University of Connecticut Health Center, Department of Cell Biology, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-6406, USA
| | - Wanda Strychalski
- Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Amy Shaub Maddox
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 407 Fordham Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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