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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.05.23.541876

Environmental stiffness restores mechanical homeostasis in vimentin-depleted cells

Grolleman, J.·Engeland, N. v.·Raza, M.·Azimi Rashti, S.·Conte, V.·Sahlgren, C.·Bouten, C.
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Abstract

Recent experimental evidence indicates a role for the intermediate filament vimentin in regulating cellular mechanical homeostasis, but its precise contribution remains to be discovered. Mechanical homeostasis requires a balanced bi-directional interplay between the cells microenvironment and the cellular morphological and mechanical state - this balance being regulated via processes of mechanotransduction and mechanoresponse, commonly referred to as mechanoreciprocity. Here, we systematically analyze vimentin-expressing and vimentin-depleted cells in a swatch of in vitro cellular microenvironments varying in stiffness and/or ECM density. We find that vimentin-expressing cells maintain mechanical homeostasis by adapting cellular morphology and mechanics to micromechanical changes in the microenvironment. However, vimentin-depleted cells lose this mechanoresponse ability on short timescales, only to reacquire it on longer time scales. Indeed, we find that the morphology and mechanics of vimentin-depleted cell in stiffened microenvironmental conditions can get restored to the homeostatic levels of vimentin-expressing cells. Additionally, we observed vimentin-depleted cells increasing collagen matrix synthesis and its crosslinking, a phenomenon which is known to increase matrix stiffness, and which we now hypothesize to be a cellular compensation mechanism for the loss of vimentin. Taken together, our findings provide further insight in the regulating role of intermediate filament vimentin in mediating mechanoreciprocity and mechanical homeostasis.

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Grolleman, J., Engeland, N. v., Raza, M., Azimi Rashti, S., Conte, V., Sahlgren, C., Bouten, C.. 2023-05-24. Environmental stiffness restores mechanical homeostasis in vimentin-depleted cells. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.23.541876

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