Plectin affects cell viscoelasticity at small and large deformations

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ABSTRACT Plectin is a giant protein of the plakin family that crosslinks the cytoskeleton of mammalian cells. It is expressed in virtually all tissues and its dysfunction is associated with various diseases such as skin blistering. There is evidence that plectin regulates the mechanical integrity of the cytoskeleton in diverse cell and tissue types. However, it is unknown how plectin modulates the mechanical response of cells depending on the frequency and amplitude of mechanical loading. Here we demonstrate the role of plectin in the viscoelastic properties of fibroblasts at small and large deformations by quantitative single-cell compression measurements. To identify the importance of plectin, we compared the mechanical properties of wild type ( Plec +/+ ) fibroblasts and plectin knockout ( Plec −/− ) fibroblasts. We show that plectin knockout cells are nearly 2-fold softer than wild type cells, but their strain-stiffening behaviour is similar. Plectin deficiency also caused faster viscoelastic stress relaxation at long times. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments indicated that this was due to 3-fold faster actin turnover. Short-time poroelastic relaxation was also faster in Plec −/− cells as compared to Plec +/+ cells, suggesting a more sparse cytoskeletal network. Confocal imaging indicated that this was due to a marked change in the architecture of the vimentin network, from a fine meshwork in wild type cells to a bundled network in the plectin knockout cells. Our findings therefore indicate that plectin is an important regulator of the organization and viscoelastic properties of the cytoskeleton in fibroblasts. Our findings emphasize that mechanical integration of the different cytoskeletal networks present in cells is important for regulating the versatile mechanical properties of cells. SIGNIFICANCE Mammalian cells combine superior mechanical strength with the ability to actively deform themselves. They owe this paradoxical mechanical behaviour to their cytoskeleton, an intracellular web of protein filaments that includes actin filaments and intermediate filaments. It is known that both cytoskeletal filament types contribute to cell stiffness on their own, but the impact of their mechanical integration via cytoskeletal crosslinker proteins remains unknown. Here we test the effect of crosslinking of actin and vimentin intermediate filaments by the crosslinker protein plectin in fibroblasts by single-cell compression measurements. By comparing normal cells and cells in which plectin is knocked out, we find that plectin significantly increases cell stiffness and provides a protective mechanism against actin network disruption by compressive loading.

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