Fig. 7. Nuclear lamins under external forces.
a The cell nucleus is under constant stress from its surroundings and experiences continuous or prolonged mechanical shocks during division and migration93,94. The nuclear lamina forms a meshwork that protects the genome and maintains the integrity of the nucleus. Surface-rendered view of the lamin meshwork in a MEF nucleus obtained by cryo-ET (adapted from ref. 4). b A schematic model based on in vitro AFM measurements showing the response of lamin filaments when subjected to different levels of external force. Based on the experiments compressing the nuclei (Supplementary Fig. 20 and 21), we speculate that the meshwork topology probably plays a role in lamina mechanics. Whether the filaments undergo a similar fate during compression as observed in point load in vitro experiments, will require further investigation. Purple arrows denote loads exerted on a nucleus.