Cytoskeletal Alterations and Biomechanical Properties of parkin-Mutant Human Primary Fibroblasts

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Genes which have been implicated in autosomal-recessive PD include PARK2 which codes for parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase that par- ticipates in a variety of cellular activities. In this study, we compared parkin-mutant primary fibroblasts, from a patient with parkin compound heterozygous mutations, to healthy control cells. Western blot analysis of proteins obtained from patient's fibroblasts showed quantitative differences of many proteins involved in the cytoskeleton organization with respect to control cells. These molecular alterations are accompanied by changes in the organization of actin stress fibers and biomechanical properties, as revealed by confocal laser scanning microscopy and atomic forcemicroscopy. In particular, parkin deficiency is associated with a significant increase of Young's modulus of -cells in comparison to normal fibroblasts. The current study proposes that parkin influences the spatial organization of actin filaments, the shape of human fibroblasts, and their elastic response to an external applied force.


Tutti gli autori

  • Vergara D.; Ferraro M.M.; Cascione M.; Del Mercato L.L.; Leporatti S.; Ferretta A.; Tanzarella P.; Pacelli C.; Santino A.; Maffia M.; Cocco T.; Rinaldi R.; Gaballo A.

Titolo volume/Rivista

Cell biochemistry and biophysics


Anno di pubblicazione

2015

ISSN

1085-9195

ISBN

Non Disponibile


Numero di citazioni Wos

Nessuna citazione

Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Numero di citazioni Scopus

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Ultimo Aggiornamento Citazioni

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Settori ERC

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Codici ASJC

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