Abstract
Astrocytes in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) brain regions have been reported to have different morphology and function. Previous single cell biomechanical studies have not differentiated between WM- and GM-derived samples. In this study, we explored the local viscoelastic properties of isolated astrocytes and show that astrocytes from rat brain WM-enriched areas are ~1.8 times softer than astrocytes from GM-enriched areas. Upon treatment with pro-inflammatory lipopolysaccharide, GM-derived astrocytes become significantly softer in the nuclear and the cytoplasmic regions, where the F-actin network appears rearranged, whereas WM-derived astrocytes preserve their initial mechanical features and show no alteration in the F-actin cytoskeletal network. We hypothesize that the flexibility in biomechanical properties of GM-derived astrocytes may contribute to promote regeneration of the brain under neuroinflammatory conditions.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 103783 |
Journal | Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials |
Volume | 109 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2020 |
Funding
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme ( FP/2007–2013 )/ ERC grant agreement no. [ 615170 ] and The Dutch MS Research Foundation (grant 15-904MS to A-MvD). The authors further thank M. Marrese for fruitful discussions.
Funders | Funder number |
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Dutch MS Research Foundation | 15-904MS |
European Research Council | 615170 |
European Research Council | |
Seventh Framework Programme | FP/2007–2013 |
Seventh Framework Programme |
Keywords
- Astrocytes
- Biomechanics
- Inflammatory response
- Viscoelasticity