Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Cell monolayers sense curvature by exploiting active mechanics and nuclear mechanoadaptation

Nature Physics volume 17, pages 1382–1390 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

The early development of many organisms involves the folding of cell monolayers, but this behaviour is difficult to reproduce in vitro; therefore, both mechanistic causes and effects of local curvature remain unclear. Here we study epithelial cell monolayers on corrugated hydrogels engineered into wavy patterns, examining how concave and convex curvatures affect cellular and nuclear shape. We find that substrate curvature affects monolayer thickness, which is larger in valleys than crests. We show that this feature generically arises in a vertex model, leading to the hypothesis that cells may sense curvature by modifying the thickness of the tissue. We find that local curvature also affects nuclear morphology and positioning, which we explain by extending the vertex model to take into account membrane–nucleus interactions, encoding thickness modulation in changes to nuclear deformation and position. We propose that curvature governs the spatial distribution of yes-associated proteins via nuclear shape and density changes. We show that curvature also induces significant variations in lamins, chromatin condensation and cell proliferation rate in folded epithelial tissues. Together, this work identifies active cell mechanics and nuclear mechanoadaptation as the key players of the mechanistic regulation of epithelia to substrate curvature.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Wavy epithelial monolayers on corrugated polyacrylamide hydrogels.
Fig. 2: Theoretical modelling of epithelial thickness modulations from substrate curvature.
Fig. 3: Substrate curvature modulates the spatial distribution of nuclei.
Fig. 4: YAP curvature sensing is mediated by nuclear density modulation.
Fig. 5: Composition of nuclear lamina depends on substrate curvature.
Fig. 6: Concave curvature zones lead to lower cell proliferation rate and promote significant chromatin condensation in elongated nuclei.

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Source data are provided with this paper. Source data for Figs. 2–6 and Extended Data Figs. 2, 3 and 5–8 are available for this paper. All other data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

Code availability

The custom codes for modelling and simulation are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

References

  1. Baptista, D., Teixeira, L., van Blitterswijk, C., Giselbrecht, S. & Truckenmüller, R. Overlooked? Underestimated? Effects of substrate curvature on cell behavior. Trends Biotechnol. 37, 838–854 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Altay, G., Tosi, S., García-Díaz, M. & Martínez, E. Imaging the cell morphological response to 3D topography and curvature in engineered intestinal tissues. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 8, 294 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Walko, G. et al. A genome-wide screen identifies YAP/WBP2 interplay conferring growth advantage on human epidermal stem cells. Nat. Commun. 8, 14744 (2017).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mobasseri, S. A. et al. Patterning of human epidermal stem cells on undulating elastomer substrates reflects differences in cell stiffness. Acta Biomater. 87, 256–264 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hiratsuka, T., Bordeu, I., Pruessner, G. & Watt, F. M. Regulation of ERK basal and pulsatile activity control proliferation and exit from the stem cell compartment in mammalian epidermis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 17796–17807 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yu, S.-M. Substrate curvature affects the shape, orientation, and polarization of renal epithelial cells. Acta Biomater. 77, 311–321 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Yu, S.-M., Li, B., Granick, S. & Cho, Y.-K. Mechanical adaptations of epithelial cells on various protruded convex geometries. Cells 9, 1434 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Callens, S. J. P., Uyttendaele, R. J. C., Fratila-Apachitei, L. E. & Zadpoor, A. A. Substrate curvature as a cue to guide spatiotemporal cell and tissue organization. Biomaterials 232, 119739 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Rougerie, P. et al. Topographical curvature is sufficient to control epithelium elongation. Sci. Rep. 10, 14784 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Tomba, C. et al. Laser‐assisted strain engineering of thin elastomer films to form variable wavy substrates for cell culture. Small 15, 1900162 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Curtis, A. S. G. & Varde, M. Control of cell behavior: topological factors. J. Natl Cancer I. 33, 15–26 (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Dunn, G. A. & Heath, J. P. A new hypothesis of contact guidance in tissue cells. Exp. Cell. Res. 101, 1–14 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Yevick, H. G., Duclos, G., Bonnet, I. & Silberzan, P. Architecture and migration of an epithelium on a cylindrical wire. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 5944–5949 (2015).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pieuchot, L. et al. Curvotaxis directs cell migration through cell-scale curvature landscapes. Nat. Commun. 9, 3995 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  15. Werner, M., Petersen, A., Kurniawan, N. A. & Bouten, C. V. C. Cell-perceived substrate curvature dynamically coordinates the direction, speed, and persistence of stromal cell migration. Adv. Biosys. 3, 1900080 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Barry, A. K. et al. α-Catenin cytomechanics—role in cadherin-dependent adhesion and mechanotransduction. J. Cell Sci. 127, 1779–1791 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Yu, F.-X. & Guan, K.-L. The Hippo pathway: regulators and regulations. Gene. Dev. 27, 355–371 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Aragona, M. et al. A mechanical checkpoint controls multicellular growth through YAP/TAZ regulation by actin-processing factors. Cell 154, 1047–1059 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hannezo, E., Prost, J. & Joanny, J.-F. Theory of epithelial sheet morphology in three dimensions. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 27–32 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Okuda, S., Inoue, Y. & Adachi, T. Three-dimensional vertex model for simulating multicellular morphogenesis. Biophys. Physicobiol. 12, 13–20 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hočevar Brezavšček, A., Rauzi, M., Leptin, M. & Ziherl, P. A model of epithelial invagination driven by collective mechanics of identical cells. Biophys. J. 103, 1069–1077 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Štorgel, N., Krajnc, M., Mrak, P., Štrus, J. & Ziherl, P. Quantitative morphology of epithelial folds. Biophys. J. 110, 269–277 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Rupprecht, J.-F. et al. Geometric constraints alter cell arrangements within curved epithelial tissues. Mol. Biol. Cell 28, 3582–3594 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fouchard, J. et al. Curling of epithelial monolayers reveals coupling between active bending and tissue tension. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 117, 9377–9383 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wyatt, T. P. J. et al. Actomyosin controls planarity and folding of epithelia in response to compression. Nat. Mater. 19, 109–117 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Broaders, K. E., Cerchiari, A. E. & Gartner, Z. J. Coupling between apical tension and basal adhesion allow epithelia to collectively sense and respond to substrate topography over long distances. Integr. Biol. 7, 1611–1621 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Versaevel, M., Riaz, M., Grevesse, T. & Gabriele, S. Cell confinement: putting the squeeze on the nucleus. Soft Matter 9, 6665–6676 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Elosegui-Artola, A. et al. Mechanical regulation of a molecular clutch defines force transmission and transduction in response to matrix rigidity. Nat. Cell Biol. 18, 540–548 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bruyère, C. et al. Actomyosin contractility scales with myoblast elongation and enhances differentiation through YAP nuclear export. Sci. Rep. 9, 15565 (2019).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Mohammed, D. et al. Innovative tools for mechanobiology: unravelling outside-in and inside-out mechanotransduction. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. 7, 162 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Hamouda, M. S., Labouesse, C. & Chalut, K. J. Nuclear mechanotransduction in stem cells. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol. 64, 97–104 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Zhao, B. et al. Inactivation of YAP oncoprotein by the Hippo pathway is involved in cell contact inhibition and tissue growth control. Gene. Dev. 21, 2747–2761 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Das, A., Fischer, R. S., Pan, D. & Waterman, C. M. YAP nuclear localization in the absence of cell-cell contact is mediated by a filamentous actin-dependent, myosin II- and phospho-YAP-independent pathway during extracellular matrix mechanosensing. J. Biol. Chem. 291, 6096–6110 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Corne, T. D. J., Sieprath, T. & Vandenbussche, J. Deregulation of focal adhesion formation and cytoskeletal tension due to loss of A-type lamins. Cell Adhes. Migr. 11, 447–463 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Wintner, O. et al. A unified linear viscoelastic model of the cell nucleus defines the mechanical contributions of lamins and chromatin. Adv. Sci. 7, 1901222 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Harada, T. et al. Nuclear lamin stiffness is a barrier to 3D migration, but softness can limit survival. J. Cell Biol. 204, 669–682 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Shin, J.-W. et al. Lamins regulate cell trafficking and lineage maturation of adult human hematopoietic cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 18892–18897 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Swift, J. et al. Nuclear lamin-A scales with tissue stiffness and enhances matrix-directed differentiation. Science 341, 1240104 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Mascetti, G. et al. Effect of fixatives on calf thymocytes chromatin as analyzed by 3D high‐resolution fluorescence microscopy. Cytometry 23, 110–119 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Versaevel, M., Grevesse, T. & Gabriele, S. Spatial coordination between cell and nuclear shape within micropatterned endothelial cells. Nat. Commun. 3, 671 (2012).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Vergani, L., Grattarola, M. & Nicolini, C. Modifications of chromatin structure and gene expression following induced alterations of cellular shape. Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 36, 1447–1461 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Harmand, N., Huang, A. & Hénon, S. 3D shape of epithelial cells on curved substrates. Phys. Rev. X 11, 031028 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  43. Miroshnikova, Y. A., Nava, M. M. & Wickström, S. A. Emerging roles of mechanical forces in chromatin regulation. J. Cell Sci. 130, 2243–2250 (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Nava, M. M. et al. Heterochromatin-driven nuclear softening protects the genome against mechanical stress-induced damage. Cell 181, 800–817.e22 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Pagliara, S. et al. Auxetic nuclei in embryonic stem cells exiting pluripotency. Nat. Mater. 13, 638–644 (2014).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. Kirkland, N. J. et al. Tissue mechanics regulate mitotic nuclear dynamics during epithelial development. Curr. Biol. 30, 2419–2432.e4 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Buxboim, A. et al. Matrix elasticity regulates lamin-A,C phosphorylation and turnover with feedback to actomyosin. Curr. Biol. 24, 1909–1917 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Koushki, N. et al. Lamin A redistribution mediated by nuclear deformation determines dynamic localization of YAP. Preprint at https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.19.998708v1.abstract (2020).

  49. Owens, D. J. et al. Lamin mutations cause increased YAP nuclear entry in muscle stem. Cells 9, 816 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Versaevel, M., Grevesse, T., Riaz, M., Lantoine, J. & Gabriele, S. Micropatterning hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels and Sylgard 184 silicone elastomers with tunable elastic moduli. Method. Cell Biol. 121, 33–48 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Riaz, M., Versaevel, M., Mohammed, D., Glinel, K. & Gabriele, S. Persistence of fan-shaped keratocytes is a matrix-rigidity-dependent mechanism that requires α5β1 integrin engagement. Sci. Rep. 6, 34141 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. Grevesse, T., Versaevel, M., Circelli, G., Desprez, S. & Gabriele, S. A simple route to functionalize polyacrylamide hydrogels for the independent tuning of mechanotransduction cues. Lab Chip 13, 777–780 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Sabnis, A., Rahimi, M., Chapman, C. & Nguyen, K. T. Cytocompatibility studies of an in situ photopolymerized thermoresponsive hydrogel nanoparticle system using human aortic smooth muscle cells. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. A 91, 52–59 (2010).

    Google Scholar 

  54. Rabinovich, Y. et al. Atomic force microscopy measurement of the elastic properties of the kidney epithelial cells. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 285, 125–135 (2005).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. Brückner, B. R. & Janshoff, A. Elastic properties of epithelial cells probed by atomic force microscopy. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1853, 3075–3082 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Kocgozlu, L. et al. Selective and uncoupled role of substrate elasticity in the regulation of replication and transcription in epithelial cells. J. Cell Sci. 123, 29–39 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Pietuch, A. et al. Mechanical properties of MDCK II cells exposed to gold nanorods. Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 6, 223–231 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Alaimo, L. et al. Engineering slit‐like channels for studying the growth of epithelial tissues in 3D‐confined spaces. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 117, 2887–2896 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Mohammed, D. et al. Substrate area confinement is a key determinant of cell velocity in collective migration. Nat. Phys. 15, 858–866 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Schneider, C. A., Rasband, W. S. & Eliceiri, K. W. NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat. Methods 9, 671–675 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

S.G. acknowledges funding from FEDER Prostem Research Project no. 1510614 (Wallonia DG06), F.R.S.-FNRS Epiforce Research Project no. T.0092.21 and Interreg MAT(T)ISSE project, which is financially supported by Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen (Fonds Européen de Développement Régional, FEDER-ERDF). This project was supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme grant agreement 851288 (to E.H.), and by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) (P 31639; to E.H.). L.R.M. acknowledges funding from the Agence National de la Recherche (ANR), as part of the ‘Investments d’Avenir’ Programme (I-SITE ULNE/ANR-16-IDEX-0004 ULNE). This work benefited from ANR-10-EQPX-04-01 and FEDER 12001407 grants to F.L. W.D.V. is supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO 1516619N, FWO GOO5819N, FWO I003420N, FWO IRI I000321N) and is member of the Research Excellence Consortium µNEURO at the University of Antwerp. M.L. is financially supported by FRIA (F.R.S.-FNRS). M.S. is a Senior Research Associate of the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.-FNRS) and acknowledges EOS grant no. 30650939 (PRECISION). Sketches in Figs. 1a and 5e and Extended Data Fig. 9 were drawn by C. Levicek.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Marine Luciano, Shi-Lei Xue.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanobiology & Soft Matter Group, Interface and Complex Fluids Laboratory, Research Institute for Biosciences, CIRMAP, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium

    Marine Luciano & Sylvain Gabriele

  2. Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria

    Shi-Lei Xue & Edouard Hannezo

  3. Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology and Department of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Winnok H. De Vos

  4. Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019—UMR 9017, CIIL—Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, Cellular Microbiology and Physics of Infection (CMPI) Team, Lille, France

    Lorena Redondo-Morata & Frank Lafont

  5. Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials, Research Institute for Biosciences, CIRMAP, University of Mons, Mons, Belgium

    Mathieu Surin

Authors
  1. Marine Luciano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shi-Lei Xue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Winnok H. De Vos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lorena Redondo-Morata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mathieu Surin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Frank Lafont
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Edouard Hannezo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Sylvain Gabriele
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

S.G. and M.L. conceived the project and S.G. and E.H. supervised the project. M.L. developed the corrugated hydrogels and performed cell experiments and imaging. S.-L.X. and E.H. developed the theoretical model. M.L., S.-L.X., E.H. and S.G. analysed the data. W.H.D.V. developed the image segmentation algorithm for nuclear detection. L.R.M., M.S. and M.L. performed and analysed the AFM experiments. F.L. contributed resources to the project. The article was written by M.L., S.-L.X., E.H. and S.G., read and corrected by all the authors, and all the authors contributed to the interpretation of the results.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Edouard Hannezo or Sylvain Gabriele.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Physics thanks the anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 Curvature of corrugated hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels.

(A) Representation of a 3D volume view of a corrugated substrate with a tangent plane (xy, in blue) and two planes of principal curvatures: xz in green (k1 = 1/R) and yz in red (k2 = 0). The Gaussian curvature is k1.k2 = 0. The inset shows a 3D confocal view of a λ30 corrugated epithelial monolayer immunostained for actin (in green) and DNA (in blue). The scale bar is 30 µm. (B) Top: confocal view (xz) of the wavy profile of a corrugated epithelial monolayer (λ30) immunostained for actin (in green) and DNA (in blue). The scale bar is 10 µm. Bottom: Schematic representation of the wavy profile of a corrugated epithelial monolayer composed of concave (in blue), interm. (in green) and convex (in orange) zones. Convex zones correspond to the crest and concave zones to the valley. Interm. zones of zero curvature were located between concave and convex zones and the tangent to the interm. zones was used to determine borders with concave and convex zones. (C) The curvature, C, of convex (crest, in orange) and concave (valley, in blue) zones was determined along the substrate profile (xz, in black) as the reciprocal of the radius (C = 1/R) of the osculating circle having its center lying on the normal line. The substrate profile is characterized by a wavelength λ and an amplitude β.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Corrugations do not affect the actin intensity of epithelial monolayers.

(A) Maximum intensity projection of an epithelial monolayer grown on a flat, λ20 (in grey), λ30 (in red) and λ50 (in blue) hydrogel and stained for F-actin (in green) and nuclei (in blue). Scale bars are 20 µm for flat and λ20, 30 µm for λ30 and 50 µm for λ50. (B) High magnification confocal images of valley and crest zones for λ20, λ30 and λ50 corrugated hydrogels stained for actin (in green) with AlexaFluor 488. (C) 3D volume rendering of a MDCK monolayer grown on a flat hydroxy-PAAm hydrogel coated with FN. Actin is labeled in green with AlexaFluor 488 and DNA in blue with DAPI. The scale bar is 50 µm. (D) Total actin intensity in epithelial tissues grown on flat (dark grey), λ20 (light grey), λ30 (red) and λ50 (blue) hydrogels. n = 8 (flat in black), n = 10 (λ20 in grey), n = 12 (λ30 in red) and n = 5 (λ50 in blue). n.s. is not significant.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 3 Mean epithelial cell area and polygon class.

Typical maximum intensity projection image of a MDCK monolayer stained for ß-catenin and grown on (A) λ20, (B) λ30 and (C) λ50 corrugated hydrogels and corresponding skeleton image of (D) λ20, (E) λ30 and (F) λ50. Scale bars correspond to 100 µm (λ20 and λ30) and to 50 µm (λ50). (G) Mean cell area and (H) distribution of polygon classes of epithelial tissues grown on flat (black), λ20 (grey), λ30 (red) and λ50 (blue) hydrogels. n = 1100 cells (flat in black), 1500 cells (λ20 in grey), 1700 cells (λ30 in red) and 1050 cells (λ50 in blue), obtained from n = 3, n = 6, n = 5 and n = 3 replicates respectively. (I) Mean cell area versus polygon class of epithelial monolayers grown on flat (black), λ20 (grey) and λ30 (red) hydrogels. n.s. is not significant.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 4 Schematic of the model and sensitivity analysis.

Equilibrium configuration of a 2D vertex model representing apical and lateral surfaces of an epithelial monolayer attached to a curved substrate. (A) Increasing substrate amplitude, β, or (B) increasing apical tensions, Γa, increased thickness modulations. (C) Simulation of the vertex model on curved substrate with increasing density (4, 6, and 8 cells per wavelength, from top to bottom), showing that increasing density decreases thickness modulations. (D) Simulation of human keratocyte on curved substrate (see Supplementary Note for details), modelled with \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_l}} \approx 5\), showing density modulations even for large wavelengths (top), which are amplified further to the point of crest/top dewetting when doubling the substrate amplitude (middle), or when doubling apical tensions \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_l}} \approx 10\) (bottom). (E) Comparison for the thickness modulation Ω between analytical theory (thin lines) and vertex simulations (dots), for \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_l}} = 5\) (purple), \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_l}} = 2\) (green) and \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_l}} = 1\) (purple), showing good agreement for large wavelengths λ (normalized by average cell thickness Δh, in all panels C–E, we have taken for simplicity average cell thickness Δh = 1and average cell side length 2d = 1), with corrections for small wavelengths. (F) Schematics of contact mechanics model of a nucleus subjected to apical compression, before (left) or after (right) lateral contact. (G–I) Sensitivity analysis of different model parameters/observations. Both full solutions (solid line) and analytic approximations (dashed line) are given (see Supplementary Note for details). We examine the influence of normalized cell height \(\bar h\) on aspect ratio Sn (G) for the nucleus (volume ratio of cell to nucleus \(\bar v = \frac{{V_c}}{{\pi r_0^2}} = 2\) and before lateral contact). We also examine the influence of local thickness gradient on aspect ratio (H) and nuclear offset (I), with \(\bar h = 0.5\), \(\bar d = 1.57\), and tension ratio \(\frac{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_a}}{{{{{\mathrm{{\Gamma}}} }}_{n0}}} = 5\). We find on both metrics a sharp transition above a critical value of thickness gradients, which occurs when the nucleus reaches lateral contact (and thus cannot increase its offset but start adopting distorted asymmetric shape because of the asymmetric contact).

Extended Data Fig. 5 Modulation of wavelength and amplitude of corrugated substrates.

(A) Representative 3D confocal image of the spatial localization of the nuclei within an epithelial monolayer grown on a corrugated hydroxy-PAAm hydrogels of 100 µm in wavelength (λ100). The nuclear height is color-coded. (B) From top to bottom: typical confocal profile of an epithelial monolayer grown for 48 h on a corrugated λ100 substrates and stained for actin with phalloidin. Average height profiles along the x position obtained from Z-stack confocal imaging (n=5). Vertex model showing the thickness modulation of the epithelial monolayer with thicker cells on convex zones and thinner ones on concave zones. (C) Modulation of the corrugation amplitude for λ20 (in grey) and λ50 (in blue) substrates to match the amplitude of λ30 (in red) substrates of ~2.3 µm. The amplitude of l20 substrates was increased to ~2.3 µm (λ20/2.3, n=16 with N=3 replicates) and the amplitude of λ50 substrates was decreased to ~2.4 µm (λ20/2.4, n=18 with N=3 replicates) (B) Thickness modulation of the epithelial monolayer for λ20 (in grey) and λ50 (in blue) substrates of different amplitudes. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 and n.s. not significant.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 6 Substrate curvature modulates the nuclear area.

(A) Local nuclear projected area normalized by the mean nuclear area of each sample on convex (crest) and concave (valley) zones of λ20 (grey), λ30 (red) and λ50 (blue) substrates. (B) Nuclear density normalized by the mean nuclear density of each sample on convex and concave zones of λ20 (grey), λ30 (red) and λ50 (blue) substrates. 109 ≤ n ≤ 162 nuclei per sample with N=3 replicates for all conditions. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001. (C–E) Local nuclear projected area (normalized by overall mean nuclear area) versus normalized position (x axis normalized by the wavelength, so that 0 and 1 correspond to top/concave regions and 0.5 to bottom/convex regions) for epithelial monolayers grown on (C) λ20, (D) λ30 and (E) λ50 hydrogels, for the best fit parameter of γ = 0.25 μm−1 (see Supplementaty Note for details). Grey squares (λ20), red circles (λ30) and blue triangles (λ50) are experimental data (mean ± S.D.) and plain lines the best fit model. 109 ≤ n ≤ 162 nuclei per sample with 3 replicates for all conditions.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 7 Nuclear orientation and YAP nuclear export are modulated by substrate concave curvatures.

Mean orientation of the nuclei on (A) convex (crest) and (B) concave (valley) curvature zones of λ20 (in grey), λ30 (in red) and λ50 (in blue) wavy hydrogels. All data are shown as mean ± SD. The number of nuclei is indicated at the bottom of each bar: 170 ≤ n ≤ 368 for concave curvature and 109 ≤ n ≤ 405 for convex curvature. Nuclear to cytoplasmic YAP ratio of nuclei on interm., concave, convex zones of (C) λ20 in grey, (B) λ30 in red and (C) λ50 in blue corrugated hydrogels. Black bars correspond to flat hydrogels. For λ20 n=30 (interm.), n=16 (concave), 24 (convex) and n=50 (flat) obtained from 5 to 7 replicates, for λ30 n=18 (interm.), n=18 (concave), n=9 (convex) and n=50 (flat) obtained from 5 to 9 replicates and for λ50 n=6 (concave), n=7 (convex) and n=50 (flat) obtained from 3 to 5 replicates. All data are shown as mean ± SD. *p < 0.1, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 and n.s. not significant.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 8 Finite element simulations of nuclei on curved substrates.

(A) Schematic of an axisymmetric compressed nucleus (in blue) with r and z the coordinates of the axisymmetric nucleus, θ the angle between the local tangent of the nuclear profile and r-axis, db the radius of the contact zone (the contact between nucleus and plane) and s the arclength of the nuclear profile (see Supplementary Note for details). (B) Snapshots of nuclear 3D morphologies in different regions, with the normalized average monolayer thickness \({{{\mathrm{{\Delta}}} }}\bar h = 0.3\). Dependence of (C) the normalized nuclear volume \(\bar V_n\) and (D) the nuclear aspect ratio in x-y plane on \({{{\mathrm{{\Delta}}} }}\bar h\). A nucleus in the concave region is either in contact with the neighboring nucleus (or cell membrane) on the right side, or confined on both sides, with cell side length (along x-axis) proportional to monolayer thickness.

Source data

Extended Data Fig. 9 Large-scale curvature sensing by epithelial monolayers depends on active cell mechanics and nuclear mechanoadaptation.

Schematic representation of the epithelial thickness modulation and the three main nuclear morphologies observed on crest (convex), interm. zones and valleys (concave). Composition of the nuclear lamina depends on substrate curvature, whereas YAP-curvature sensing is mediated by nuclear density modulation. Concave curvature zones lead to lower cell proliferation rate and promote significant chromatin condensation in elongated nuclei.

Extended Data Table 1 Dimensions of the corrugated hydrogels
Full size table

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Videos 1–9 and Note.

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Video 1

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a wavy epithelial monolayer grown on a λ20 corrugated hydrogel. F-actin is stained in green with Alexa Fluor 488 and DNA in blue with DAPI.

Supplementary Video 2

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a wavy epithelial monolayer grown on a λ30 corrugated hydrogel. F-actin is stained in green with Alexa Fluor 488 and DNA in blue with DAPI.

Supplementary Video 3

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a wavy epithelial monolayer grown on a λ50 corrugated hydrogel. F-actin is stained in green with Alexa Fluor 488 and DNA in blue with DAPI.

Supplementary Video 4

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (oblate morphology) at the concave zone (crest) of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Supplementary Video 5

Rotated 3D confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (oblate morphology) at the concave zone (crest) of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Supplementary Video 6

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (asymmetric morphology) at the interm. zone of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Supplementary Video 7

Rotated 3D confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (asymmetric morphology) at the interm. zone of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Supplementary Video 8

Three-dimensional confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (prolate morphology) at the convex (valley) zone of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Supplementary Video 9

Rotated 3D confocal volume rendering of a DAPI-stained nucleus (prolate morphology) at the convex (valley) zone of a λ20 corrugated hydrogel.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 2

Experimental and theoretical data.

Source Data Fig. 3

Experimental and theoretical data.

Source Data Fig. 4

Experimental data.

Source Data Fig. 5

Experimental Data

Source Data Fig. 6

Theoretical and experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Table. 1

Experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 2

Experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 3

Experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 5

Experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 6

Experimental and theoretical data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 7

Experimental data.

Source Data Extended Data Fig. 8

Theoretical data.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Luciano, M., Xue, SL., De Vos, W.H. et al. Cell monolayers sense curvature by exploiting active mechanics and nuclear mechanoadaptation. Nat. Phys. 17, 1382–1390 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01374-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01374-1

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing