PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Bin Zhao
AU  - Ningwei Li
AU  - Tianfa Xie
AU  - Chungwen Liang
AU  - Yousef Bagheri
AU  - Yubing Sun
AU  - Mingxu You
TI  - Quantifying Tensile Forces at Cell–Cell Junctions with a DNA-based Fluorescent Probe
AID  - 10.1101/2020.01.07.897249
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.01.07.897249
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/07/2020.01.07.897249.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/07/2020.01.07.897249.full
AB  - Cells are physically contacting with each other. Direct and precise quantification of forces at cell–cell junctions is still challenging. Herein, we have developed a DNA-based ratiometric fluorescent probe, termed DNAMeter, to quantify intercellular tensile forces. These lipid-modified DNAMeters can spontaneously anchor onto live cell membranes. The DNAMeter consists of two self-assembled DNA hairpins of different force tolerance. Once the intercellular tension exceeds the force tolerance to unfold a DNA hairpin, a specific fluorescence signal will be activated, which enables the real-time imaging and quantification of tensile forces. Using E-cadherin-modified DNAMeter as an example, we have demonstrated an approach to quantify, at the molecular level, the magnitude and distribution of E-cadherin tension among epithelial cells. Compatible with readily accessible fluorescence microscopes, these easy-to-use DNA tension probes can be broadly used to quantify mechanotransduction in collective cell behaviors.