The weakness of senescent dermal fibroblasts.

Skin is the largest human organ with easily noticeable biophysical manifestations of aging. As human tissues age, there is chronological accumulation of biophysical changes due to internal and environmental factors. Skin aging leads to decreased elasticity and the loss of dermal matrix integrity via degradation. The mechanical properties of the dermal matrix are maintained by fibroblasts, which undergo replicative aging and may reach senescence. While the secretory phenotype of senescent fibroblasts is well studied, little is known about changes in the fibroblasts biophysical phenotype. Therefore, we compare biophysical properties of young versus proliferatively aged primary fibroblasts via fluorescence and traction force microscopy, single-cell atomic force spectroscopy, microfluidics, and microrheology of the cytoskeleton. Results show senescent fibroblasts have decreased cytoskeletal tension and myosin II regulatory light chain phosphorylation, in addition to significant loss of traction force. The alteration of cellular forces is harmful to extracellular matrix homeostasis, while decreased cytoskeletal tension can amplify epigenetic changes involved in senescence. Further exploration and detection of these mechanical phenomena provide possibilities for previously unexplored pharmaceutical targets against aging.

Correction: The role of stickiness in the rheology of semiflexible polymers.

Correction for 'The role of stickiness in the rheology of semiflexible polymers' by Tom Golde et al., Soft Matter, 2019, 15, 4865-4872.

The role of stickiness in the rheology of semiflexible polymers.

Semiflexible polymers form central structures in biological material. Modelling approaches usually neglect influences of polymer-specific molecular features aiming to describe semiflexible polymers universally. Here, we investigate the influence of molecular details on networks assembled from filamentous actin, intermediate filaments, and synthetic DNA nanotubes. In contrast to prevalent theoretical assumptions, we find that bulk properties are affected by various inter-filament interactions. We present evidence that these interactions can be merged into a single parameter in the frame of the glassy wormlike chain model. The interpretation of this parameter as a polymer specific stickiness is consistent with observations from macro-rheological measurements and reptation behaviour. Our findings demonstrate that stickiness should generally not be ignored in semiflexible polymer models.

Morphology on Reaction Mechanism Dependency for Twin Polymerization.

An in-depth knowledge of the structure formation process and the resulting dependency of the morphology on the reaction mechanism is a key requirement in order to design application-oriented materials. For twin polymerization, the basic idea of the reaction process is established, and important structural properties of the final nanoporous hybrid materials are known. However, the effects of changing the reaction mechanism parameters on the final morphology is still an open issue. In this work, the dependence of the morphology on the reaction mechanism is investigated based on a previously introduced lattice-based Monte Carlo method, the reactive bond fluctuation model. We analyze the effects of the model parameters, such as movability, attraction, or reaction probabilities on structural properties, like the specific surface area, the radial distribution function, the local porosity distribution, or the total fraction of percolating elements. From these examinations, we can identify key factors to adapt structural properties to fulfill desired requirements for possible applications. Hereby, we point out which implications theses parameter changes have on the underlying chemical structure.

Glassy dynamics in composite biopolymer networks.

The cytoskeleton is a highly interconnected meshwork of strongly coupled subsystems providing mechanical stability as well as dynamic functions to cells. To elucidate the underlying biophysical principles, it is central to investigate not only one distinct functional subsystem but rather their interplay as composite biopolymeric structures. Two of the key cytoskeletal elements are actin and vimentin filaments. Here, we show that composite networks reconstituted from actin and vimentin can be described by a superposition of two non-interacting scaffolds. Arising effects are demonstrated in a scale-spanning frame connecting single filament dynamics to macro-rheological network properties. The acquired results of the linear and non-linear bulk mechanics can be captured within an inelastic glassy wormlike chain model. In contrast to previous studies, we find no emergent effects in these composite networks. Thus, our study paves the way to predict the mechanics of the cytoskeleton based on the properties of its single structural components.