Deformation of stem cell nuclei by nanotopographical cues.
Abstract
Cells sense cues in their surrounding microenvironment. These cues are converted into
intracellular signals and transduced to the nucleus in order for the cell to respond
and adapt its function. Within the nucleus, structural changes occur that ultimately
lead to changes in the gene expression. In this study, we explore the structural changes
of the nucleus of human mesenchymal stem cells as an effect of topographical cues.
We use a controlled nanotopography to drive shape changes to the cell nucleus, and
measure the changes with both fluorescence microscopy and a novel light scattering
technique. The nucleus changes shape dramatically in response to the nanotopography,
and in a manner dependent on the mechanical properties of the substrate. The kinetics
of the nuclear deformation follows an unexpected trajectory. As opposed to a gradual
shape change in response to the topography, once the cytoskeleton attains an aligned
and elongation morphology on the time scale of several hours, the nucleus changes
shape rapidly and intensely.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4120Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1039/B921206JPublication Info
Chalut, Kevin J; Kulangara, Karina; Giacomelli, Michael G; Wax, Adam; & Leong, Kam
W (2010). Deformation of stem cell nuclei by nanotopographical cues. Soft Matter, 6(8). pp. 1675-1681. 10.1039/B921206J. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/4120.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
Collections
More Info
Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Kam Leong
Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Professor Leong's research interest focuses on biomaterials design, particularly on
synthesis of nanoparticles for DNA-based therapeutics, and nanostructured biomaterials
for regenerative medicine
Biomaterials Design:
design of self-assembled fibers for tissue engineering
microfluidics-mediated synthesis of multifunctional nanoparticles for drug and gene
delivery
synthesis of novel quantum dots for biomedical applications
Con
This author no longer has a Scholars@Duke profile, so the information shown here reflects
their Duke status at the time this item was deposited.
Adam P. Wax
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Wax's research interests include optical spectroscopy for early cancer detection,
novel microscopy and
interferometry techniques.
The study of intact, living cells with optical spectroscopy offers the opportunity
to observe cellular structure, organization and dynamics in a way that is not possible
with traditional methods. We have developed a set of novel spectroscopic techniques
for measuring spatial, temporal and refractive structure on sub-hertz and sub-wavelength
scales based
Alphabetical list of authors with Scholars@Duke profiles.

Articles written by Duke faculty are made available through the campus open access policy. For more information see: Duke Open Access Policy
Rights for Collection: Scholarly Articles
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info