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Thermal instability of cell nuclei

DNA is known to be a mechanically and thermally stable structure. In its double
stranded form it is densely packed within the cell nucleus and is thermo-resistant
up to 70 °C. In contrast, we found a sudden loss of cell nuclei integrity at
relatively moderate temperatures ranging from 45 to 55 °C. In our study, suspended
cells held in an optical double beam trap were heated under controlled
conditions while monitoring the nuclear shape. At specific critical temperatures,
an irreversible sudden shape transition of the nuclei was observed. These temperature
induced transitions differ in abundance and intensity for various normal
and cancerous epithelial breast cells, which clearly characterizes different cell
types. Our results show that temperatures slightly higher than physiological
conditions are able to induce instabilities of nuclear structures, eventually
leading to cell death. This is a surprising finding since recent thermorheological
cell studies have shown that cells have a lower viscosity and are thus more
deformable upon temperature increase. Since the nucleus is tightly coupled to
the outer cell shape via the cytoskeleton, the force propagation of nuclear
reshaping to the cell membrane was investigated in combination with the
application of cytoskeletal drugs.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:80336
Date08 August 2022
CreatorsWarmt, Enrico, Kießling, Tobias R., Stange, Roland, Fritsch, Anatol W., Zink, Mareike, Käs, Josef A.
PublisherIOP Publishing
Source SetsHochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typeinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Relation073009

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