Displacement of Actin Filament and Actin Binding Proteins under Local Deformation Processed by Digital Image Correlation Method in a Myoblast

Displacement of actin filament and its binding proteins in mouse myoblasts under locally applied deformation was analyzed by manual method or digital image correlation method. Cyotoskeletal components labeled by immunofluorescent technique or green fluorescent protein-fused protein were deformed via the movement of a glass needle which was poked into a cell. First, we confirmed the digital image correlation method is able to use to analyze displacement map by comparison of the manual method. Next, we examined whether the applied deformation isotropically propagates into cell body. At focal adhesions, fluorescent signals from the deformed area unchanged under the application. Mainly, focal adhesions around the poked area were moved to the direction of the movement of the needle. In addition, some adhesions away from the poked area were moved. Similar results were observed in phalloidin-stained cells. Finally, we applied the local deformation to live cells. However, displacement at the locally deformed area was not observed due to the disappearance of fluorescent signals. These results indicate that applied deformation propagated heterogeneously into a cell, and may imply that biochemical signals disrupt actin fibers under local deformation.