Cytokinesis, a model cell shape change event, is controlled by an integrated system that coordinates the mitotic spindle signals with a mechanoresponsive cytoskeletal network that drives contractility and furrow ingression. Quantitative methods that measure cell mechanics, mechanoresponse (mechanical stress-induced protein accumulation), protein dynamics, and molecular interactions are necessary to provide insight into both the mechanical and biochemical components involved in cytokinesis and cell shape regulation. Micropipette aspiration, fluorescence correlation and cross-correlation spectroscopy, and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching are valuable methods for measuring cell mechanics and protein dynamics in vivo that occur on nanometer to micron length-scales, and microsecond to minute timescales. Collectively, these methods provide the ability to quantify the molecular interactions that control the cell's ability to change shape and undergo cytokinesis.
Keywords: Cell mechanics; Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy; Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy; Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching; Micropipette aspiration.
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