ArticleFrontiers in cell and developmental biology2022
Mechanical properties of tunneling nanotube and its mechanical stability in human embryonic kidney cells.
Article in Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breaking cellular boundaries: molecular mechanisms of tunneling nanotube formation and fusion.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Tunneling Nanotubes in Astrocyte-Neuron Crosstalk: From Intercellular Communication and Pathological Spread to Mechanobiological and Bio-Inspired Approaches.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Orchestrating movement: the role of Caveolin-1 in migration and metastasis.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- From mitochondria to immune networks: new mesenchymal stem cell strategies to treat periodontitis.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Review
- Potential Mechanisms of Tunneling Nanotube Formation and Their Role in Pathology Spread in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Proteinopathies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Mechanical properties of intercellular tunneling nanotubes formed by different mechanisms.Heliyon · 2024Review
- Biophysical perspectives to understanding cancer-associated fibroblasts.APL bioengineering · 2024Review
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- The role of solution temperature in characteristics of TiORSC advances · 2024Article
- Tunneling Nanotubes in the Brain.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- Hijacking intercellular trafficking for the spread of protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases: a focus on tunneling nanotubes (TNTs).Extracellular vesicles and circulating nucleic acids · 2023Review
- Intercellular crosstalk mediated by tunneling nanotubes between central nervous system cells. What we need to advance.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are thin membrane tubular structures that interconnect physically separated cells. Growing evidence indicates that TNTs play unique roles in various diseases by facilitating intercellular transfer of signaling and organelles, suggesting TNTs as a potential target for disease treatment. The efficiency of TNT-dependent communication is largely determined by the number of TNTs between cells. Though TNTs are physically fragile structures, the mechanical properties of TNTs and the determinants of their mechanical stability are still unclear. Here, using atomic force microscope (AFM) and microfluidic techniques, we investigated the mechanical behavior and abundance of TNTs in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells upon the application of forces. AFM measurements demonstrate that TNTs are elastic structures with an apparent spring constant of 79.1 ± 16.2 pN/μm. The stiffness and membrane tension of TNTs increase by length. TNTs that elongate slower than 0.5 μm/min display higher mechanical stability, due to the growth rate of F-actin inside TNTs being limited at 0.26 μm/min. Importantly, by disturbing the cytoskeleton, membrane, or adhesion proteins of TNTs, we found that F-actin and cadherin connection dominantly determines the tensile strength and flexural strength of TNTs respectively. It may provide new clues for screening TNT-interfering drugs that alter the stability of TNTs.
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