Local tension on talin in focal adhesions correlates with F-actin alignment at the nanometer scale

Cellular force transmission and mechanotransduction are critical in embryogenesis, normal physiology and many diseases. Talin plays a key role in these processes by linking integrins to force generating acto-myosin. Using the previously characterized FRET-based talin tension sensor, we observed variations of tension both between and within individual FAs in the same cell. Assembling and sliding adhesions showed gradients with higher talin tension toward the cell center, whereas mature, stable adhesions had uniform talin tension.

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