New Force Transduction Mechanism Discovered in Muscle Cells

Researchers at the University of Münster have now discovered how the muscle-specific adhesion molecule metavinculin modulates mechanical force transduction on the molecular level. The research results have just been published in Nature Communications.

In order to understand how mechanical information is transmitted on the molecular level, the researchers developed biosensors that allow the detection of piconewton-scale forces propagated across individual molecules in cells. In their most recent study, the team applied their microscopy-based technique to the adhesion protein metavinculin, which is expressed in muscle cells and associated with cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease.

By analyzing a range of genetically modified cells, the authors demonstrate that the presence of metavinculin changes how mechanical forces are transduced in cell adhesion complexes. "Our data indicate that metavinculin could function as a molecular dampener, helping to resist high peak forces observed in muscle tissues," explains Carsten Grashoff, principal investigator of the study. "This is a very interesting example of how the presence of a single protein can change the way mechanical information is processed in cells."

Surprisingly, the authors did not observe any indications of cardiomyopathy in mice lacking metavinculin. This suggests that the pathophysiological role of metavinculin is more complex than previously assumed.