IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pcbi00/1003971.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Yielding Elastic Tethers Stabilize Robust Cell Adhesion

Author

Listed:
  • Matt J Whitfield
  • Jonathon P Luo
  • Wendy E Thomas

Abstract

Many bacteria and eukaryotic cells express adhesive proteins at the end of tethers that elongate reversibly at constant or near constant force, which we refer to as yielding elasticity. Here we address the function of yielding elastic adhesive tethers with Escherichia coli bacteria as a model for cell adhesion, using a combination of experiments and simulations. The adhesive bond kinetics and tether elasticity was modeled in the simulations with realistic biophysical models that were fit to new and previously published single molecule force spectroscopy data. The simulations were validated by comparison to experiments measuring the adhesive behavior of E. coli in flowing fluid. Analysis of the simulations demonstrated that yielding elasticity is required for the bacteria to remain bound in high and variable flow conditions, because it allows the force to be distributed evenly between multiple bonds. In contrast, strain-hardening and linear elastic tethers concentrate force on the most vulnerable bonds, which leads to failure of the entire adhesive contact. Load distribution is especially important to noncovalent receptor-ligand bonds, because they become exponentially shorter lived at higher force above a critical force, even if they form catch bonds. The advantage of yielding is likely to extend to any blood cells or pathogens adhering in flow, or to any situation where bonds are stretched unequally due to surface roughness, unequal native bond lengths, or conditions that act to unzip the bonds. Author Summary: Cells adhere to surfaces and each other in the presence of forces that would easily overpower the individual noncovalent receptor-ligand bonds that mediate this adhesion, raising the question as to how these bonds cooperate to withstand such high forces. Here we show that cooperation and robust adhesion depends on the elastic properties of the bonds. A type of nonlinear elasticity referred to as elastic yielding ensures that the total force is distributed equally across the individual bonds regardless of geometry. In contrast, with linear or strain-hardening elasticity, the bonds that are stretched the most are exposed to higher forces, which cause them to fail sequentially. This work explains why elastic yielding is found in structurally and evolutionarily diverse adhesive complexes.

Suggested Citation

  • Matt J Whitfield & Jonathon P Luo & Wendy E Thomas, 2014. "Yielding Elastic Tethers Stabilize Robust Cell Adhesion," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-8, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pcbi00:1003971
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003971
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003971
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003971&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003971?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bryan T. Marshall & Mian Long & James W. Piper & Tadayuki Yago & Rodger P. McEver & Cheng Zhu, 2003. "Direct observation of catch bonds involving cell-adhesion molecules," Nature, Nature, vol. 423(6936), pages 190-193, May.
    2. Carsten Grashoff & Brenton D. Hoffman & Michael D. Brenner & Ruobo Zhou & Maddy Parsons & Michael T. Yang & Mark A. McLean & Stephen G. Sligar & Christopher S. Chen & Taekjip Ha & Martin A. Schwartz, 2010. "Measuring mechanical tension across vinculin reveals regulation of focal adhesion dynamics," Nature, Nature, vol. 466(7303), pages 263-266, July.
    3. Zhao Qin & Laurent Kreplak & Markus J Buehler, 2009. "Hierarchical Structure Controls Nanomechanical Properties of Vimentin Intermediate Filaments," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(10), pages 1-14, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fenghou Yuan & Huitang Qi & Binghui Song & Yuntian Cui & Junsheng Zhang & Huan Liu & Bo Liu & Hai Lei & Tian Liu, 2025. "Tailorable biosensors for real-time monitoring of stress distribution in soft biomaterials and living tissues," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Jiankai Wei & Wei Zhang & An Jiang & Hongzhe Peng & Quanyong Zhang & Yuting Li & Jianqing Bi & Linting Wang & Penghui Liu & Jing Wang & Yonghang Ge & Liya Zhang & Haiyan Yu & Lei Li & Shi Wang & Liang, 2024. "Temporospatial hierarchy and allele-specific expression of zygotic genome activation revealed by distant interspecific urochordate hybrids," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Brian J Schmidt & Jason A Papin & Michael B Lawrence, 2009. "Nano-motion Dynamics are Determined by Surface-Tethered Selectin Mechanokinetics and Bond Formation," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(12), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Ying Hung & Li‐Hsiang Lin & C. F. Jeff Wu, 2022. "Varying coefficient frailty models with applications in single molecular experiments," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 78(2), pages 474-486, June.
    5. Navish Wadhwa & Alberto Sassi & Howard C. Berg & Yuhai Tu, 2022. "A multi-state dynamic process confers mechano-adaptation to a biological nanomachine," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Hong Wang & Rayan Said & Clémence Nguyen-Vigouroux & Véronique Henriot & Peter Gebhardt & Julien Pernier & Robert Grosse & Christophe Le Clainche, 2024. "Talin and vinculin combine their activities to trigger actin assembly," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Hyun-Kyu Choi & Peiwen Cong & Chenghao Ge & Aswin Natarajan & Baoyu Liu & Yong Zhang & Kaitao Li & Muaz Nik Rushdi & Wei Chen & Jizhong Lou & Michelle Krogsgaard & Cheng Zhu, 2023. "Catch bond models may explain how force amplifies TCR signaling and antigen discrimination," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Zhaowei Liu & Haipei Liu & Andrés M. Vera & Byeongseon Yang & Philip Tinnefeld & Michael A. Nash, 2024. "Engineering an artificial catch bond using mechanical anisotropy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Serena Petracchini & Daniel Hamaoui & Anne Doye & Atef Asnacios & Florian Fage & Elisa Vitiello & Martial Balland & Sebastien Janel & Frank Lafont & Mukund Gupta & Benoit Ladoux & Jerôme Gilleron & Te, 2022. "Optineurin links Hace1-dependent Rac ubiquitylation to integrin-mediated mechanotransduction to control bacterial invasion and cell division," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    10. Yuhang Zhang & Jingyi Du & Xian Liu & Fei Shang & Yunxin Deng & Jiaqing Ye & Yukai Wang & Jie Yan & Hu Chen & Miao Yu & Shimin Le, 2024. "Multi-domain interaction mediated strength-building in human α-actinin dimers unveiled by direct single-molecule quantification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Venkat R. Chirasani & Mohammad Ashhar I. Khan & Juilee N. Malavade & Nikolay V. Dokholyan & Brenton D. Hoffman & Sharon L. Campbell, 2023. "Molecular basis and cellular functions of vinculin-actin directional catch bonding," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Matthew R. Pawlak & Adam T. Smiley & Maria Paz Ramirez & Marcus D. Kelly & Ghaidan A. Shamsan & Sarah M. Anderson & Branden A. Smeester & David A. Largaespada & David J. Odde & Wendy R. Gordon, 2023. "RAD-TGTs: high-throughput measurement of cellular mechanotype via rupture and delivery of DNA tension probes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Brooke E. Danielsson & Bobin George Abraham & Elina Mäntylä & Jolene I. Cabe & Carl R. Mayer & Anna Rekonen & Frans Ek & Daniel E. Conway & Teemu O. Ihalainen, 2023. "Nuclear lamina strain states revealed by intermolecular force biosensor," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Pritam Saha & Vishavdeep Vashisht & Ojas Singh & Amin Sagar & Gaurav Kumar Bhati & Surbhi Garg & Sabyasachi Rakshit, 2025. "Exploring force-driven stochastic folding dynamics in mechano-responsive proteins and implications in phenotypic variation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-14, December.
    15. Muaz Nik Rushdi & Victor Pan & Kaitao Li & Hyun-Kyu Choi & Stefano Travaglino & Jinsung Hong & Fletcher Griffitts & Pragati Agnihotri & Roy A. Mariuzza & Yonggang Ke & Cheng Zhu, 2022. "Cooperative binding of T cell receptor and CD4 to peptide-MHC enhances antigen sensitivity," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Chrystian Junqueira Alves & Rafael Dariolli & Jonathan Haydak & Sangjo Kang & Theodore Hannah & Robert J. Wiener & Stefanie DeFronzo & Rut Tejero & Gabriele L. Gusella & Aarthi Ramakrishnan & Rodrigo , 2021. "Plexin-B2 orchestrates collective stem cell dynamics via actomyosin contractility, cytoskeletal tension and adhesion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Sorosh Amiri & Camelia Muresan & Xingbo Shang & Clotilde Huet-Calderwood & Martin A. Schwartz & David A. Calderwood & Michael Murrell, 2023. "Intracellular tension sensor reveals mechanical anisotropy of the actin cytoskeleton," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Valentina Lo Schiavo & Philippe Robert & Laurent Limozin & Pierre Bongrand, 2012. "Quantitative Modeling Assesses the Contribution of Bond Strengthening, Rebinding and Force Sharing to the Avidity of Biomolecule Interactions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-11, September.
    19. Nicola Hellen & Gregory I. Mashanov & Ianina L. Conte & Sophie Trionnaire & Victor Babich & Laura Knipe & Alamin Mohammed & Kazim Ogmen & Silvia Martin-Almedina & Katalin Török & Matthew J. Hannah & J, 2022. "P-selectin mobility undergoes a sol-gel transition as it diffuses from exocytosis sites into the cell membrane," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    20. Florian Franz & Rafael Tapia-Rojo & Sabina Winograd-Katz & Rajaa Boujemaa-Paterski & Wenhong Li & Tamar Unger & Shira Albeck & Camilo Aponte-Santamaria & Sergi Garcia-Manyes & Ohad Medalia & Benjamin , 2023. "Allosteric activation of vinculin by talin," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pcbi00:1003971. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ploscompbiol (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.