ArticleBiophysical journal2013
Monitoring actin cortex thickness in live cells.
Article in Biophysical journal, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 112 papers.
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Who cites it
112 citing papers in PubMed.
- Electroporation outcomes in human Jurkat cells are affected by exposure to simulated microgravity.Research square · 2026Article
- The membrane-to-cortex distance regulates mDia1 activity to control cortical mechanics.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Mechanoadaptation via Myosin Cytoplasmic Redistribution Protects Circulating Tumor Cells From Shear-induced Death During Hematogenous Dissemination.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Ghosts on the Membrane: Cytoskeletal Pinning Influences Nanoscale Cell Membrane Organization.Biomolecules · 2026Article
- Membrane composition-dependent patterning of Rho and F-actin in an artificial cell cortex.Molecular biology of the cell · 2026Article
- Actin network heterogeneity tunes activator-inhibitor dynamics at the cell cortex.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Structure of the F-tractin-F-actin complex.The Journal of cell biology · 2025Article
- The curtain model as an alternative and complementary to the classic turgor concept of filamentous fungi.Archives of microbiology · 2025Review
- N-Cadherin based adhesion and Rac1 activity regulate tension polarization in the actin cortex.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A continuum model of mechanosensation based on contractility kit assembly.Biophysical journal · 2025Article
- The structure and mechanics of the cell cortex depend on the location and adhesion state.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Composite branched and linear F-actin maximize myosin-induced membrane shape changes in a biomimetic cell model.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Mechanically induced topological transition of spectrin regulates its distribution in the mammalian cell cortex.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Sub-membrane actin rings compartmentalize the plasma membrane.The Journal of cell biology · 2024Article
- A Magnetic Pincher for the Dynamic Measurement of the Actin Cortex Thickness in Live Cells.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- T cell migration requires ion and water influx to regulate actin polymerization.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Changes in cell surface excess are coordinated with protrusion dynamics during 3D motility.Biophysical journal · 2023Article
- Cell wall dynamics stabilize tip growth in a filamentous fungus.PLoS biology · 2023Article
- Quantifying cytoskeletal organization from optical microscopy data.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2023Review
- Scratching beyond the surface - minimal actin assemblies as tools to elucidate mechanical reinforcement and shape change.Emerging topics in life sciences · 2022Article
52 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Animal cell shape is controlled primarily by the actomyosin cortex, a thin cytoskeletal network that lies directly beneath the plasma membrane. The cortex regulates cell morphology by controlling cellular mechanical properties, which are determined by network structure and geometry. In particular, cortex thickness is expected to influence cell mechanics. However, cortex thickness is near the resolution limit of the light microscope, making studies relating cortex thickness and cell shape challenging. To overcome this, we developed an assay to measure cortex thickness in live cells, combining confocal imaging and subresolution image analysis. We labeled the actin cortex and plasma membrane with chromatically different fluorophores and measured the distance between the resulting intensity peaks. Using a theoretical description of cortex geometry and microscopic imaging, we extracted an average cortex thickness of ∼190 nm in mitotic HeLa cells and tested the validity of our assay using cell images generated in silico. We found that thickness increased after experimental treatments preventing F-actin disassembly. Finally, we monitored physiological changes in cortex thickness in real-time during actin cortex regrowth in cellular blebs. Our investigation paves the way to understanding how molecular processes modulate cortex structure, which in turn drives cell morphogenesis.
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