Alpha-Helical Protein Networks Are Self-Protective and Flaw-Tolerant
Figure 2
Effect of large uniaxial stretch on the intermediate filament network in MDCK cells, illustrating the ability of intermediate filament network to undergo very large deformation without catastrophic failure.
The cells were grown on collagen-coated silastic membranes and stretched using a custom cell stretcher that was mounted on a confocal microscope. Cells were fixed and stained for immunofluorescence (red = keratin IFs, blue = DNA). Subplot A: Control cells were processed on a relaxed silastic membrane. Subplot B: Stretched cells were fixed, stained and imaged on membranes that were held in the stretched state. The approximate uniaxial strain in stretched cells is 75%. Scale bar is approximately 25 µm. Images reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. from reference [46], Biomechanical properties of intermediate filaments: from tissues to single filaments and back, Vol. 29, No. 1, 2007, pp. 26–35, copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.