Figure 5.

Oscillatory stretch increases remodeling of actin filaments in living cells in 3D culture. The effect of oscillatory stretch on the actin remodeling rate was measured across centrally located regions (212 × 106 µm; red rectangle) in living microtissues using live-cell staining and comparing confocal stacks taken immediately before and after various durations of stretching or static culture (a). Representative heat maps of cross-correlation coefficients show that actin remodeling was spatially heterogeneous and increased with large amplitude stretching vs. static conditions (b). The average correlation coefficient was significantly reduced (ie. a greater amount of remodeling had occurred) when stretching vs. static after 1 min and 5 min (b). The scale bar in (b) represents 50 μm. (*P < 0.05; N = 6 repeated measures t-test).