This work was supported by the University of Central Florida start-up funds and the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute of the National Institute of Health under award K25HL132098.

1. Making polyacrylamide (PA) gels
<ol>
	<li>Preparation of Petri dish
	<ol>
		<li>Prepare bind silane solution by mixing 200 mL ultrapure water with 80 &#181;L acetic acid and 50 &#181;L of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate. Bind silane is a solution used to functionalize the glass bottom Petri dish surface for hydrogel attachment.</li>
		<li>Stir the bind silane solution on a stir plate for at least 1 h.</li>
		<li>Treat the center well of the Petri dish with bind silane solution for 45 min.</li...

<ol>
	<li>Mammoto, T., Mammoto, A., Ingber, D. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Mechanobiology+and+developmental+control.">Mechanobiology and developmental control.</a> Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology. 29, 27-61 (2013).</li><li>Schwarz, U. S., Soine, J. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Traction+force+microscopy+on+soft+elastic+substrates:+A+guide+to+recent+computational+advances.">Traction force microscopy on soft elastic substrates: A guide to recent computational advances.</a> Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 1853 (11 Pt B), 3095-3104 (2015).</li><li>Style, R. W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Traction+force+microscopy+in+physics+and+biology.">Traction force microscopy in physics and biology.</a> Soft Matter. 10 (23), 4047-4055 (2014).</li><li>Colin-York, H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Super-Resolved+Traction+Force+Microscopy+(STFM).">Super-Resolved Traction Force Microscopy (STFM).</a> Nano Letters. 16 (4), 2633-2638 (2016).</li><li>Zimmermann, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Intercellular+stress+reconstitution+from+traction+force+data.">Intercellular stress reconstitution from traction force data.</a> Biophysical Journal. 107 (3), 548-554 (2014).</li><li>Islam, M. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Recent+Advances+in+Experimental+Methods+of+Cellular+Force+Sensing.">Recent Advances in Experimental Methods of Cellular Force Sensing.</a> Biomedical Journal of Science &amp; Technical Research. 17 (3), (2019).</li><li>Steward Jr, R., Tambe, D., Hardin, C. C., Krishnan, R., Fredberg, J. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Fluid+shear,+intercellular+stress,+and+endothelial+cell+alignment.">Fluid shear, intercellular stress, and endothelial cell alignment.</a> American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology. 308 (8), C657-C664 (2015).</li><li>Trepat, X., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Physical+forces+during+collective+cell+migration.">Physical forces during collective cell migration.</a> Nature Physics. 5, 426-430 (2009).</li><li>Li, Z., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cellular+traction+forces:+a+useful+parameter+in+cancer+research.">Cellular traction forces: a useful parameter in cancer research.</a> Nanoscale. 9 (48), 19039-19044 (2017).</li><li>Brugues, A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Forces+driving+epithelial+wound+healing.">Forces driving epithelial wound healing.</a> Nature Physics. 10 (9), 683-690 (2014).</li><li>Pasqualini, F. S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Traction+force+microscopy+of+engineered+cardiac+tissues.">Traction force microscopy of engineered cardiac tissues.</a> PLoS One. 13 (3), e0194706 (2018).</li><li>Tambe, D. T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Collective+cell+guidance+by+cooperative+intercellular+forces.">Collective cell guidance by cooperative intercellular forces.</a> Nature Materials. 10 (6), 469-475 (2011).</li><li>Tambe, D. T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Monolayer+stress+microscopy:+limitations,+artifacts,+and+accuracy+of+recovered+intercellular+stresses.">Monolayer stress microscopy: limitations, artifacts, and accuracy of recovered intercellular stresses.</a> PLoS One. 8 (2), e55172 (2013).</li><li>Butler, J. P., Tolic-Norrelykke, I. M., Fabry, B., Fredberg, J. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Traction+fields,+moments,+and+strain+energy+that+cells+exert+on+their+surroundings.">Traction fields, moments, and strain energy that cells exert on their surroundings.</a> American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology. 282 (3), C595-C605 (2002).</li><li>Hardin, C. C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Long-range+stress+transmission+guides+endothelial+gap+formation.">Long-range stress transmission guides endothelial gap formation.</a> Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 495 (1), 749-754 (2018).</li><li>Cho, Y., Son, M., Jeong, H., Shin, J. H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Electric+field-induced+migration+and+intercellular+stress+alignment+in+a+collective+epithelial+monolayer.">Electric field-induced migration and intercellular stress alignment in a collective epithelial monolayer.</a> Molecular Biology of the Cell. 29 (19), 2292-2302 (2018).</li><li>Krishnan, R., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Substrate+stiffening+promotes+endothelial+monolayer+disruption+through+enhanced+physical+forces.">Substrate stiffening promotes endothelial monolayer disruption through enhanced physical forces.</a> American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology. 300 (1), C146-C154 (2011).</li><li>Islam, M. M., Steward, R. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Probing+Endothelial+Cell+Mechanics+through+Connexin+43+Disruption.">Probing Endothelial Cell Mechanics through Connexin 43 Disruption.</a> Experimental Mechanics. 59, 327 (2019).</li><li>Figueroa, X. F., Duling, B. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Gap+junctions+in+the+control+of+vascular+function.">Gap junctions in the control of vascular function.</a> Antioxidants &amp; Redox Signaling. 11 (2), 251-266 (2009).</li><li>Nielsen, M. S., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Gap+junctions.">Gap junctions.</a> Comprehensive Physiology. 2 (3), 1981-2035 (2012).</li><li>Sohl, G., Willecke, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Gap+junctions+and+the+connexin+protein+family.">Gap junctions and the connexin protein family.</a> Cardiovascular Research. 62 (2), 228-232 (2004).</li><li>Haefliger, J. A., Nicod, P., Meda, P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Contribution+of+connexins+to+the+function+of+the+vascular+wall.">Contribution of connexins to the function of the vascular wall.</a> Cardiovascular Research. 62 (2), 345-356 (2004).</li><li>Marquez-Rosado, L., Solan, J. L., Dunn, C. A., Norris, R. P., Lampe, P. D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Connexin43+phosphorylation+in+brain,+cardiac,+endothelial+and+epithelial+tissues.">Connexin43 phosphorylation in brain, cardiac, endothelial and epithelial tissues.</a> Biochimica et Biophysica Acta. 1818 (8), 1985-1992 (2012).</li><li>Liao, Y., Day, K. H., Damon, D. N., Duling, B. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Endothelial+cell-specific+knockout+of+connexin+43+causes+hypotension+and+bradycardia+in+mice.">Endothelial cell-specific knockout of connexin 43 causes hypotension and bradycardia in mice.</a> Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 98 (17), 9989-9994 (2001).</li><li>Walker, D. L., Vacha, S. J., Kirby, M. L., Lo, C. W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Connexin43+deficiency+causes+dysregulation+of+coronary+vasculogenesis.">Connexin43 deficiency causes dysregulation of coronary vasculogenesis.</a> Developmental Biology. 284 (2), 479-498 (2005).</li><li>Lee, Y. N., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=2',5'-Dihydroxychalcone+down-regulates+endothelial+connexin43+gap+junctions+and+affects+MAP+kinase+activation.">2',5'-Dihydroxychalcone down-regulates endothelial connexin43 gap junctions and affects MAP kinase activation.</a> Toxicology. 179 (1-2), 51-60 (2002).</li><li>Bazellieres, E., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Control+of+cell-cell+forces+and+collective+cell+dynamics+by+the+intercellular+adhesome.">Control of cell-cell forces and collective cell dynamics by the intercellular adhesome.</a> Nature Cell Biology. 17 (4), 409-420 (2015).</li><li>Nam, N. H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Synthesis+and+cytotoxicity+of+2,5-dihydroxychalcones+and+related+compounds.">Synthesis and cytotoxicity of 2,5-dihydroxychalcones and related compounds.</a> Archives of Pharmacal Research. 27 (6), 581-588 (2004).</li></ol>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Our group, as well as others, has been successfully using TFM and MSM to probe the influence of cell-cell junctions in various pathological and physiological cellular processes in vitro7,15,18,27. For example, Hardin et al. presented a very insightful study that suggests intercellular stress transmission guides paracellular gap formation in endothelial cells15. While it ...

The field that refers to the study of the effects of physical forces and of mechanical properties on cellular and tissue physiology and pathology is known as mechanobiology1. A few useful techniques that have been utilized in mechanobiology are monolayer stress microscopy and traction force microscopy. Traction force microscopy allows for the computation of tractions generated at the cell-substrate interface, while monolayer stress microscopy allows for the computation of intercellular stresses generated between adjacent cells within a monolayer2,3,4,5,6. Results yielded from previous methods have suggested that cell-derived mechanical stresses play a crucial role in determining the fate of a host of cellular processes3,4,5. For example, upon exposure to an external mechanical force, a group of cells migrating as a collective can alter their morphology and polarize their shape to align and migrate along the direction of applied force by, in part, generating tractions7,8. Tractions provide a metric that can be used to evaluate cell contractility and are calculated using traction force microscopy (TFM). Traction force microscopy (TFM) begins with the determination of cell-induced substrate deformations followed by the calculation of the traction field using a mathematically rigorous, mechanics-based computational approach. Since the ability to calculate tractions has been around for quite some time, researchers have utilized TFM to reveal the impact tractions have on a host of processes, including cancer9, wound healing10 and assessment of engineered cardiac tissue11.
Implementation of TFM and MSM together can be divided into three essential steps that must be executed in the following order: first, the hydrogel deformations produced by the cells are determined; second, tractions are recovered from hydrogel deformations; and third, a finite element approach is used to compute normal and shear intercellular stresses within the entire monolayer. To compute gel displacements, fluorescence bead images with cells were compared with the reference bead image (without cells) by using a custom-written particle image velocimetry (PIV) routine. The cross-correlation window size and overlap for PIV analysis were chosen to be 32 x 32 pixels and 0.5, respectively. At this time, pixel shifts were converted into microns by multiplying with a pixel-to-micron conversion factor (for our microscope, this conversion factor is 0.65) to obtain in-plane displacements. Errors associated with ignoring out-of-plane displacements are negligible12,13. After computation of gel displacements, there are two types of traction measurements that can be utilized, constrained tractions and unconstrained tractions8,14. Unconstrained tractions provide the traction field for the entire field of view (including regions with and without cells), while constrained tractions provide the traction field only for regions that include cells14. Then, intercellular stresses are calculated using monolayer stress microscopy (MSM), which is an extension of traction force microscopy. Implementation of MSM is based off the assumption that local tractions exerted by a monolayer of cells at the cell-substrate interface must be balanced by mechanical forces transmitted between cells at the cell-cell interface as demanded by Newton&#39;s laws7,12,13. A key assumption here is that the cell monolayer can be treated as a thin elastic sheet because the traction distribution in the monolayer is known and the force balance does not depend on cell material properties. Another key assumption is that the traction forces are balanced by local intercellular stresses within the optical field of view (within the monolayer) and the influence of this force balance is minimal in the distal region (outside of the monolayer)13. Therefore, the boundary conditions defined by intercellular stresses, displacements, or a combination of both at the monolayer boundary are crucial to perform MSM13.Taking into account the above information, we utilize MSM to perform a finite element analysis (FEM) to recover the maximum principal stress (&#963;max) and minimum principal stress (&#963;min) by rotating the stress plane at every point within the monolayer. These principal stresses are subsequently used to compute the 2D average normal intercellular stress [(&#963;max + &#963;min) /2] and 2D maximum shear intercellular stress [(&#963;max - &#963;min) /2] within the entire monolayer12,13. This procedure is described in more detail by Tambe et al.12,13
Monolayer stress microscopy (MSM) allows for the calculation of cell-cell intercellular stresses generated within a monolayer6,7,8,12,13. These intercellular stresses have been suggested to be important for tissue growth and repair, wound healing, and cancer metastasis12,15,16,17. In addition, intercellular stresses have been suggested to also be important in endothelial cell migration and endothelial barrier function17,18. While cell-cell junctions such as tight junctions and adherens junctions have both been suggested to play a critical role in endothelial intercellular stress generation and transmission, the role of gap junctions remains elusive. Gap junctions physically connect adjacent cells and provide a pathway for electrical current and molecules (&#60;1 KDa) to pass between neighboring cells19,20,21. Although endothelial cells express Cx37, Cx40, and Cx43 gap junctions19,22, Cx43 is arguably the most important in terms of disease progression23. Evidence of Cx43&#39;s importance may be found in the fact that genetic deletion of Cx43 in mice results in hypotension24 and has adverse effects on angiogenesis25. In addition, Cx43 has been documented to be important for cell migration and proliferation and in the progression of atherosclerosis18,22,23,24,25.
In this protocol, we used TFM and MSM to investigate whether traction and intercellular stress generation within the confluent, endothelial monolayer would be impacted by the disruption of the endothelial gap junction Cx43. We disrupted Cx43 with 2,5-dihydroxychalcone (chalcone), a molecule documented to inhibit Cx43 expression26. Chalcone was used to disrupt Cx43 instead of siRNA as chalcone has been reported previously by Lee et al. to disrupt Cx43 expression26. In addition, we were particularly interested in chalcone&#39;s influence on the endothelium as it has also been reported to be an anti-inflammatory and anti-platelet compound that can potentially be used for the prevention and treatment of various vascular pathologies26. Chalcone treatments were performed an hour after the experiment onset, chalcone-treated monolayers were imaged for a total of six hours, and image processing was performed with a custom-written MATLAB code to determine tractions and subsequently intercellular stresses. Our results showed an overall decrease in tractions and intercellular stresses, suggesting Cx43 plays a key role in endothelial biomechanics.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>18 mm coverslip</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>18CIR-1</td>
			<td>Essential to flatten polyacrylamide gels</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2% bis-acrylamide</td>
			<td>BIO-RAD</td>
			<td>1610143</td>
			<td>Component of polyacrylamide gel</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2&#8242;,5&#8242;-Dihydroxychalcone</td>
			<td>SIGMA</td>
			<td>IDF00046</td>
			<td>To disrupt Cx43 structure</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3-(Trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate</td>
			<td>SIGMA</td>
			<td>2530-85-0</td>
			<td>Stock solution to make bind silane mixture with acetic acid and ultra-pure water</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>40% Acrylamide</td>
			<td>BIO-RAD</td>
			<td>1610140</td>
			<td>Component of polyacrylamide gel</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Acetic acid</td>
			<td>Fisher-Sceintific</td>
			<td>64-19-7</td>
			<td>Essential to make bind saline solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluro 488 goat anti-mouse IgG;</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>Catalog # A-11001</td>
			<td>Secondary antibody</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonium persulfate</td>
			<td>BIO-RAD</td>
			<td>1610700</td>
			<td>Polyacrylamide gel polymerizing agent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA)</td>
			<td>SIGMA</td>
			<td>9048-46-8</td>
			<td>To make blocking solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Type I Atelo-Collagen Solution, 3 mg/mL, 100 mL</td>
			<td>Advance Biomatrix</td>
			<td>5005-100ML</td>
			<td>Use as a extracellular matrix</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Corning Cell Culture Phosphate Buffered Saline (1x)</td>
			<td>Fisher-Sceintific</td>
			<td>21040CV</td>
			<td>Buffer Saline needed for cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dimethyl Sulfoxide, Fisher BioReagents</td>
			<td>Fisher-Sceintific</td>
			<td>67-68-5</td>
			<td>To dissolve chalcone and make stock solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluoromount-G with DAPI</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>00-4959-52</td>
			<td>Mounting medium for immunostaing used to stain for DAPI</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluroscent microsphere Carboxylate-modified beads</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>F8812</td>
			<td>0.5 micron carboxylate-modified beads (red), 2% solids</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES buffer solution 1 M</td>
			<td>SIGMA</td>
			<td>7365-45-9</td>
			<td>Essential to</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>LVES</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>A1460801</td>
			<td>Essential HUEVC media 200 supplement</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Medium 200</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>M200500</td>
			<td>Essential media for HUVEC cell culture</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mouse monoclonal Cx43 antibody (CX - 1B1)</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>Catalog #13-8300</td>
			<td>Primary antibody for Cx43</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dish (35 mm dia)</td>
			<td>CellVis</td>
			<td>D35-20-1.5H</td>
			<td>35 mm petri dish with a 20 mm center well</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sulfo-SANPAH Crosslinker 100 mg</td>
			<td>Proteochem</td>
			<td>102568-43-4</td>
			<td>Essential to functionalize polyacrylamide gel surface</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SYLGARD 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit</td>
			<td>DOW corning</td>
			<td>2646340</td>
			<td>Silicon elastomer with curing agent to make PDMS</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>TEMED</td>
			<td>BIO-RAD</td>
			<td>1610801</td>
			<td>Polyacrylamide gel polymerizing agent</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Triton-X 100</td>
			<td>SIGMA</td>
			<td>9002-93-1</td>
			<td>To permeabilize cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trypsin -EDTA</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>25300054</td>
			<td>Used to detach cells</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

perturbing endothelial biomechanics via connexin 43 structural disruption

Endothelial cells have been established to generate intercellular stresses and tractions, but the role gap junctions play in endothelial intercellular stress and traction generation is currently unknown. Therefore, we present here a mechanics-based protocol to probe the influence of gap junction connexin 43 (Cx43) has on endothelial biomechanics by exposing confluent endothelial monolayers to a known Cx43 inhibitor 2,5-dihydroxychalcone (chalcone) and measuring the impact this inhibitor has on tractions and intercellular stresses. We present representative results, which show a decrease in both tractions and intercellular stresses under a high chalcone dosage (2 &#181;g/mL) when compared to control. This protocol can be applied to not just Cx43, but also other gap junctions as well, assuming the appropriate inhibitor is used. We believe this protocol will be useful in the fields of cardiovascular and mechanobiology research.

Phase contrast images of control, 0.2 &#181;g/mL, and 2 &#181;g/mL chalcone treated monolayers were taken 30 minutes before chalcone treatment (Figure 1A-C) and 2 hours after chalcone treatment (Figure 1D-F). Cell-induced bead displacements (&#181;m) were observed to decrease in both low dose chalcone and high dose chalcone conditions (Figure 2E,F) w...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Perturbing Endothelial Biomechanics via Connexin 43 Structural Disruption at JoVE.com

Perturbing Endothelial Biomechanics via Connexin 43 Structural Disruption

Here, we present a mechanics-based protocol to disrupt the gap junction connexin 43 and measure the subsequent impact this has on endothelial biomechanics via observation of tractions and intercellular stresses.

Endothelial cells have been established to generate intercellular stresses and tractions, but the role gap junctions play in endothelial intercellular ...

This protocol is significant as it allows for elucidation of the role cellular forces play in many physiological and pathological processes, such as wound healing and cancer metastases, for example. The main advantage of this mechanics-based technique is its ability to simultaneously disrupt cell-cell junctions and measure its impact on cell-generated mechanical forces, mainly tractions and intercellular stressors. Our protocol is applicable to a wide range of pathophysiological processes, such as cancer metastases, atheroscleroses, and hypertension, for example.Our methods can be integrated to perform both biochemical and biomechanical analysis with organ-on-chip models, bio-engineered tissue constructs, in vitro drug delivery systems, and tissue co-culture systems. Our protocol is fairly straightforward to perform. However, we advise those doing this protocol for the first time to have patience and not rush through the steps of this protocol.Our protocol has unique steps that may not be clear to first-time users. Therefore, we encourage users to follow our written step-by-step procedures and use visual demonstrations as guidance. To begin, prepare Blind-silane solution by mixing 200 milliliters of ultra pure water with 80 microliters of acetic acid and 50 microliters of silane methacrylate.Stir the Bind-silane solution on a stir plate for at least one hour. Treat the center well of a Petri dish with the Bind-silane solution for 45 minutes. Remove the Bind-silane solution and rinse the Petri dish with ultra pure water two to three times.Dry the Petri dish surface and store at room temperature for future use. To prepare the hydrogel solution, mix 12.49 milliliters of ultra pure water to 2.062 milliliters of 40%acrylamide and 375 microliters of 2%bisacrylamide in a 15-milliliter centrifuge tube. Add 80 microliters of fluorescent beads to the hydrogel solution.Gently shake the tube to mix the beads with the gel solution. Keep the cap loose on the centrifuge tube and place it in a vacuum chamber. De-gas the gel solution for at least 45 minutes in the vacuum chamber.To polymerize the hydrogel, first add 75 microliters of 10%ammonium persulphate and then add eight microliters of TEMED to the hydrogel solution. Place 24 microliters of the hydrogel solution at the center of the Petri dish. Press onto the hydrogel with an 18 millimeter cover slip to flatten the hydrogel and make a height of approximately 100 micrometers.Wait at least 30 to 40 minutes for gel polymerization. Submerge the polymerized hydrogel in ultra pure water to prevent gel dehydration. Cover the Petri dish with aluminum foil to prevent photobleaching of fluorescent beads and store at four degrees Celsius.First, mix the PDMS silicone base with the silicone curing agent at a ratio of 20 to one in a 50-milliliter centrifuge tube. Invert the tube upside down and shake vigorously multiple times to ensure proper mixing of the PDMS solution. Remove the bubbles in the PDMS solution by centrifuging for one minute at 190 times G.Pour five to six milliliters of the PDMS solution in the center of a 100-millimeter Petri dish and agitate the dish until the PDMS solution covers the entire Petri dish surface.Cure the PDMS solution overnight at 50 to 60 degrees Celsius. Next, remove a circular 16-millimeter diameter PDMS stencil with a hole puncher. Use a 1.25 millimeter diameter biopsy punch to create small holes in the PDMS stencil.Sterilize PDMS stencils by submerging them in 70%ethanol for two to three minutes, aspirating off excess ethanol and then placing under a UV light for five minutes. Aspirate any excess liquid and remove the cover slip from the hydrogel. Place the PDMS stencil on the hydrogel surface and use tweezers to apply light pressure to the PDMS stencil to ensure a water-tight seal between the PDMS stencil and the hydrogel surface.Cover the hydrogel's surface with Sulfo-SAMPA dissolved in 0.1 molar HEPES buffer solution at a concentration of one to 1, 000 and place the hydrogel under a UV lamp with a power of 36 watts for eight minutes. Aspirate the excess Sulfo-SAMPA and HEPES solution and rinse the hydrogel twice with 0.1 molar HEPES followed by an additional two rinses with ultra pure water. Aspirate excess ultra pure water and use a 200-microliter pipette to coat the hydrogel with 0.1 milligrams per milliliter of Collagen-1.Cover the dish to protect the fluorescent beads from photobleaching and store the hydrogel at four degrees Celsius overnight. Now, add three milliliters of 1X Trypsin into the flask and place it in the incubator at 37 degrees Celsius for three to five minutes to detach the cells from the tissue culture flask. After trypsinization, add three milliliters of cell culture media into the flask, swirl to mix, and transfer the mixture into a 15-milliliter centrifuge tube.Centrifuge the cell solution for three minutes at 1, 710 times G.Aspirate the supernatant and re-suspend the cells in media to a concentration of 50 times 10 to the four cells per milliliter. Take out the hydrogel dish from the refrigerator. Remove the Collagen-1 from the hydrogel and rinse one time with PBS.Add 75 times 10 to the third cells to the top of the PDMS stencil and allow the cells to attach to the hydrogel surface for at least one hour in the incubator at 37 degrees Celsius and 5%carbon dioxide. Remove the PDMS stencil and submerge the PDMS stencil in 10X Trypsin for 10 to 15 seconds to remove any attached cells. Add at least two milliliters of media to the Petri dish and sterilize the stencil by spraying with 70%ethanol, and then placing under the UV light for five minutes.Place the Petri dish in the incubator for at least 36 hours, or until a confluent monolayer is observed. Phase contrast images of 30 minutes before chalcone treatment and two hours after chalcone treatment were compared. Cell-induced bead displacements were observed to decrease in both low-dose chalcone and high-dose chalcone conditions when compared to control HUVEC monolayers.Prior to chalcone treatment, RMS tractions were around 51 Pascals for all conditions. After chalcone treatment, there was a small increase in RMS tractions to 59 Pascals in low-dose chalcone treated monolayers and an almost two-fold decrease in RMS tractions to 18 Pascals in high-dose chalcone treated monolayers compared to the control. Chalcone treatment increased the average normal intercellular stress magnitude with low-dose, but significantly decreased the average normal intercellular stress magnitude with high dose when compared to control.The chalcone treatment also decreased the maximum sheer intercellular stresses at both low and high chalcone concentration when compared to the control. The impact of chalcone treatment is statistically significant based on both T-tests and single factor ANOVA test. While placing PDMS stencil on top of the gel, make sure the gel is dry enough to ensure a water-tight seal between the PDMS stencil and the gel.This protocol can also be applied to probe the biomechanical contribution of a variety of cell-cell junctions, cytoskeletal proteins, cell matrix adhesion molecules, or extracellular molecules with live imaging. With this in vitro protocol, researchers can now successfully investigate a host of biomechanical, as well as biochemical properties during tissue repair, wound healing, or cancer metastases without animal model. We advise our viewers to be very careful while handling chalcone and DMSO as inhalation of these drugs is reported to be harmful.

perturbing-endothelial-biomechanics-via-connexin-43-structural

Research

JoVE Journal

Biochemistry

5.4K visualizações.  University of Central Florida. Este protocolo é significativo, pois permite a elucidação do papel que as forças celulares desempenham em muitos processos fisiológicos e patológicos, como a cicatrização de feridas e metástases cancerígenas, por exemplo. A principal vantagem desta técnica baseada em mecânica é sua capacidade de interromper simultaneamente as junções celular-célula e medir seu impacto sobre as forças mecânicas geradas por células, principalmente traçãos e estressores intercelulares. Nosso...